There seems to be a difference in the way Mathematica assigns a value to a variable and the way it assigns a value to the next Out object. I don't understand why this is happening.
For instance, take the following command:
In[1]=
Pi // MatrixForm
Out[1]//MatrixForm=
Pi
Why does the console say "Out[1] // MatrixForm"? I would have expected Mathematica to evaluate the entire line of input and assign the value to the Out[1] object. Instead, it seems to have ignored the MatrixForm command and instead apply it to the output that was printed.
Let me explicitly assign a variable this value (as opposed to implicitly assigning the value to Out):
In[2]=
m = Pi // MatrixForm
Out[2]//MatrixForm=
Pi
Now if I look at the difference between Out[2] and m:
In[3]=
m // FullForm
Out[2] //FullForm
Out[3]//FullForm=
MatrixForm[Pi]
Out[4]//FullForm=
Pi
I had assumed that Mathematica would assign the Out object the exact same value as the m object but this does not appear to be the case. What is the explanation for this? How is Out treated differently, and why?
