is an option for functions such as ComplexExpand and FindDistribution that specifies what functions to attempt to generate in the output.
TargetFunctions
is an option for functions such as ComplexExpand and FindDistribution that specifies what functions to attempt to generate in the output.
Examples
Basic Examples (4)
This gives an answer in terms of Re [z] and Im [z]:
With TargetFunctions->{Abs , Arg }, the answer is given in terms of Abs [z] and Arg [z]:
Use Conjugate as a target function:
Generate data sampled from a mixture distribution:
Estimate the best distribution from this data:
With TargetFunctions->{GammaDistribution ,NormalDistribution }, the answer is given in terms of gamma distributions and normal distributions:
With TargetFunctions->{GammaDistribution }, the answer is given in terms of gamma distributions:
Compare the PDFs for the three distributions:
See Also
History
Introduced in 1996 (3.0)
Text
Wolfram Research (1996), TargetFunctions, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TargetFunctions.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 1996. "TargetFunctions." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TargetFunctions.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (1996). TargetFunctions. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TargetFunctions.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_targetfunctions, author="Wolfram Research", title="{TargetFunctions}", year="1996", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TargetFunctions.html}", note=[Accessed: 24-November-2025]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_targetfunctions, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={TargetFunctions}, year={1996}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TargetFunctions.html}, note=[Accessed: 24-November-2025]}