Maxima/Names

"One quick way to check on name conflicts is to keep the html Maxima help manual up in a separate window, and have the Index panel available to type in a name you want to use.    The painful way to check on name conflicts is to wait for Maxima to give you a strange error message as to why what you are trying to do won’t work. If you get strange results, try changing the names of your variables and or functions. An important fact is that Maxima is case sensitive, so  you can avoid name conflicts by capitalizing the names of your user defined Maxima functions. Your Solve will not conflict with Maxima’s solve." Edwin L. Woollett