Example
\[ \frac{d}{dx}\left[\frac{\tan x - 1}{\sec x}\right] \]
Method 1: Simplifying First
\[ \frac{d}{dx}\left[\frac{\frac{\sin x}{\cos x} - 1}{\frac{1}{\cos x}}\right] \]
\[ = \frac{d}{dx}\left[\sin x - \cos x\right] \]
\[ = \cos x + \sin x \]
Method 2: Using the Quotient Rule
Derivatives of the components:
\[ \frac{d}{dx}(\tan x - 1) = \sec^2 x \]
\[ \frac{d}{dx}\sec x = \sec x \tan x \]
Use Quotient Rule:
\[ \frac{d}{dx}\left[\frac{\tan x - 1}{\sec x}\right] \]
\[ = \frac{(\sec^2 x)\sec x - (\tan x - 1)\sec x \tan x}{\sec^2 x} \]
\[ = \frac{\sec^2 x \sec x - \tan^2 x \sec x + \sec x \tan x}{\sec^2 x} \]
Using the identity \(\sec^2 x - \tan^2 x = 1\):
\[ = \frac{\sec x + \sec x \tan x}{\sec^2 x} \]
\[ = \dots = \sin x + \cos x \]