I find Chinese impossible to read but, of course, I've never studied it. There are probably at least billion people who would disagree if I were to assert categorically that Chinese is unreadable but few people have a problem saying this about APL or J. It's certainly easier to make this assertion than to do the work necessary to prove or disprove it.
I find tacit J expressions difficult to read but I have a powerful tool - the J interpreter - to help me analyze them. I usually am inclined to write J explicitly until I notice unecessary repetition in my code that leads me to a tacit expression. In every case, I make helpful notes to myself by using meaningful names and relevant comments. I notice that it seems to be a common assumption that there is something natural or easy about understanding, that it's a passive activity like watching TV. We seem to quickly forget our initial difficulties learning a new language and take for granted our fluency once we've achieved it. However, maybe the memory of our initial struggle manifests itself in our reluctance to learn anything new. On 12/20/07, Steven H. Rogers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Raul Miller wrote: > > On Dec 20, 2007 12:51 AM, dly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >> Sorry, I thought this thread was about readability - composition is > >> quite another matter - so write once read never. > >> > > > > This thread is about readability. > ... > > Finally, I totally disagree with your implication that J is a "read > > never" language. > > > pad"Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally > for machines to execute." > > - Abelson & Sussman, /SICP/, preface to the first edition > > Writing and reading are two sides of the same coin. Both APL and J have > been accused of being write only languages, but this is not the case if > one has learned to read them. The problem is not that these languages > are more "write only" than others, but with approaching programming as a > "write only" activity. > > # Steve > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > -- Devon McCormick, CFA ^me^ at acm. org is my preferred e-mail ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
