The idea can be put many ways. Here's one: x&u y
should be more common or useful than x u&y So, in x | y, x is the modulus because you are more likely to take the remainder of a bunch of numbers with the same modulus rather than remainders of the same number with different moduli. The rule comes about because x u^:_1 y is defined as (x&u)^:_1 . % e. -. (and arguably -) are defined incorrectly according to this rule, and in each case the reason is conformance to pre-J mathematical notation. Henry Rich > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of R.A. MacDonald > Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 2:34 PM > To: General forum > Subject: Re: [Jgeneral] Why does the Residue function take > its arguments in"reverse" order > > Hello Terrence; > > Given that this ordering is as old as APL, thus as old as I > am, and I do > not recall having seen an explanation, I would also be > interested in one. > > A thought: the #: (Antibase) verb follows the same pattern, > as did APL's > decode (or was it encode? dualities always throw me) with a > default left > argument of 2 in the monadic case. It sctually returns the > same result > when the left argument is a scalar: > > 3 #: 10 > 1 > 3 | 10 NB. Veery intestingk. > 1 > > Nitpicky questions are the new poster's job. If you want negative > reactions to a novice, ask a Perl "monk" a question. > > Terrence Brannon wrote: > > It seems that the Residue function should follow the same > argument order as % > > > > It does not seem consistent or intuitive for the arguments > to be reversed. > > > > What motivated this decision? I spent 5 minutes about to > tear my hair out trying > > to figure out the results I was getting from Residue. > > > > 7 % 2 > > 3.5 > > 2 | 7 NB. would be 7 | 2 if I were designing J :) > > 1 > > > > > > I'm sorry to ask what seem like such nitpicky little > questions, but I got a > > great answer regarding Passive, so perhaps I am just > ignorant of some loftier > > motivation for such argument calling conventions. > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see > http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > > > > -- > later ... > <pre>--------------------------------------------------------- > --------------- > |\/| Randy A MacDonald | APL: If you can say it, it's done.. (ram) > |/\| [EMAIL PROTECTED] | > |\ | | The only real problem with APL is that > BSc(Math) UNBF'83 | it is "still ahead of its time." > Sapere Aude | - Morten Kromberg > Natural Born APL'er | Looking for a whip-smart APL > developer <a href="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">Send me a note</a> > -----------------------------------------------------(INTP)--- > -{ gnat }-</pre> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see > http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
