Tracy Harms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > 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.
Yes, you state words of great isolated truth here. > 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. True. > > 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. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that not all verbs process lists based on their items. And there are other frame/n-cell perspectives that become more germane to the problem at hand, based on the combination of noun and cell rank. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
