Re: [Axiom-developer] About finite fields

[Fabio S.]

> The problem with having Axiom "automatically" perform a irreducibility 
> check is that the check could be time consuming.  Suppose you have a 
> polynomial of high degree whose factorization takes, say, a couple of 
> minutes.  With an automatic irreducibility test, AXIOM would factor the 
> polynomial every time you create the finite field, which is probably not 
> what you would want.

I didn't consider this aspect. You are right: it can be quite annoying 
indeed.

If there is no way out from this, maybe it could be worth to stress in the 
documentation this point and the fact tha the user _must_ take care of the 
chosen polynomial.

Fabio