# Symbolics.jl & @syms?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/symbolics-jl-syms/67994>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** symbolics\
**Created:** [September 10, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/symbolics-jl-syms/67994 "2021-09-10T17:05:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BLI](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/bli/32/37206_2.png) [@BLI](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/BLI)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/symbolics-jl-syms/67994/1 "2021-09-10T17:05:03Z")

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Just curious… I noticed that the `SymbolicUtils.jl` documentation (now) uses `@syms` to create new symbolic variables. The same seems to work in `Symbolics.jl` and `ModelingToolkit.jl`.

Is this a change from using `@variables`, or a macro giving new possibilities?

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**Author:** ![ChrisRackauckas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/chrisrackauckas/32/77_2.png) [@ChrisRackauckas](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ChrisRackauckas)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/symbolics-jl-syms/67994/2 "2021-09-11T02:08:16Z")

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It adds a wrapper to make it act more naturally in Julia functions via dispatch. But under the hood it’s a Sym.

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**Author:** ![BLI](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/bli/32/37206_2.png) [@BLI](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/BLI)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/symbolics-jl-syms/67994/3 "2021-09-11T16:48:49Z")

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Does that mean that in the future, we can always use `@syms` were we previously have used `@variables` – and get the added benefit of better dispatch?

(I like the `syms` name for defining `Sym` quantities… `variables` is ok, too, but not all `Sym` quantities are meant to “vary”. )

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**Author:** ![ChrisRackauckas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/chrisrackauckas/32/77_2.png) [@ChrisRackauckas](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ChrisRackauckas)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/symbolics-jl-syms/67994/4 "2021-09-11T20:34:48Z")

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No