Question: A question about factoring polynomials, and "type"

Hi,

I'm relatively new to using Maple.

I'm looking for information on how the "factor" function works. I printed its definition, and it refers to "factor/factor" and I can't find any more information on this. I'd like to know so that I could have more trust that it works correctly. Specifically, I'd like to be able to believe that if it does not factor a cubic, then the cubic is irreducible.

I'm specifically looking for rational roots of cubic polynomials. The "solve" function seems to work, and gives me the roots in terms of square roots, cubic roots and rationals. I have no idea why I should believe that "type(x,rational)" would work when the description of "x" is quite complicated.

Does anyone know anything about how "factor" works, or how "type" works when testing whether an expression evaluates to a rational number? Any information would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt