Stupid merge makes this branch dangerous. Merging with other branches will result in unexpected changes. Never merge this branch with anything. Closing branch.

function A = spdiag(a,i)
    default_arg('i',0);

    if isrow(a)
        a = a';
    end

    n = length(a)+abs(i);
    A = spdiags(a,i,n,n);
end