Terrence Brannon
> "An array is a list of its items."
> I think it is more accurate to say: an array can be seen as a list of its
> items, but there are other ways to conceptualize an array in terms of
> its frame and n-cells.
You have underestimated the importance of the assertion, "An array is a list of
its items."
Yes, some arrays may be conceptualized in ways other than as a list of items.
There is, however, special utility in the fact that *every* J array *is* a list
of its items. That utility involves the meanings of "list" and "item."
Memorizing this phrase is a good way to learn the way these three J concepts
are interrelated.
The importance is particularly high because of the way J replaces conventional
indexing with functions that apply to array shapes, which are always lists.
Thinking of J in terms of list-processing has been a simplifier in my studies.
When what happens is list-processing, the things that are processed are items.
That relationship deserves special emphasis.
Tracy B. Harms
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