JuliaDiff / JuliaDiff/ForwardDiff.jl
Symbolics.jl compatibility
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- Julia
- Stars
- 1k
- Forks
- 160
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Description
Arithmetic operations between Num and Dual based on Num is not clearly defined. The basic usecase is this:
using ForwardDiff, Symbolics.jl
@variables a, x
f = x -> a*x
Differential(x)(f(x)) |> expand_derivatives # This works, and gives what I would expect from ForwardDiff.derivative
ForwardDiff.derivative(f, x) # This returns an error
The error given by the last line is this
ERROR: MethodError: *(::Num, ::ForwardDiff.Dual{ForwardDiff.Tag{var"#5#6", Num}, Num, 1}) is ambiguous.
Candidates:
*(x::Real, y::ForwardDiff.Dual{Ty}) where Ty
@ ForwardDiff ~/.julia/packages/ForwardDiff/PcZ48/src/dual.jl:145
*(a::Num, b::Real)
@ Symbolics ~/.julia/packages/SymbolicUtils/ssQsQ/src/methods.jl:73
*(a::Num, b::Number)
@ Symbolics ~/.julia/packages/SymbolicUtils/ssQsQ/src/methods.jl:75
Possible fix, define
*(::Num, ::ForwardDiff.Dual{Ty}) where Ty
Stacktrace:
[1] (::var"#5#6")(x::ForwardDiff.Dual{ForwardDiff.Tag{var"#5#6", Num}, Num, 1})
@ Main ./REPL[21]:1
[2] derivative(f::var"#5#6", x::Num)
@ ForwardDiff ~/.julia/packages/ForwardDiff/PcZ48/src/derivative.jl:14
[3] top-level scope
@ REPL[22]:1
This seems to be the case for (at least) all basic arithmetic operations. Not sure if this should be fixed here or in Symbolics.jl.
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Reproduce the example using ForwardDiff.derivative, Symbolics.jl, Num, and ForwardDiff.Dual, then inspect the conflicting arithmetic methods shown in the error from ForwardDiff and SymbolicUtils. Determine whether the compatibility change belongs in ForwardDiff.jl or Symbolics.jl, and verify that the basic arithmetic operations no longer produce an ambiguous-method error.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- julia
- Domain
- tooling
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100