Why does the SUBS function in the Symbolic Toolbox give an output of type DOUBLE?

When I execute the SUBS function on a symbolic object that contains no variables, I expect the output to be identical to the input. However, the SUBS function converts it to a double-precision number:

syms A x y

A = sym(1);

class(A)

A = subs(A,x,y);

class(A)

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This is a designed feature of the SUBS function. To ensure that your output remains a symbolic object, use the SYM function:

syms A x y

A = sym(1);

class(A)

A = sym(subs(A,x,y));

class(A)