*> Don Guinn* donguinn at gmail.com <programming%40forums.jsoftware.com?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BJprogramming%5D%20%40%3A%20and%20capped%20fork&In-Reply-To=%3CCAEcakcOOepH2%2BYjk_B9EPCZvJCPxUTomR2yZULDEXrF1epq1BA%40mail.gmail.com%3E> *> Sun Dec 2 14:12:01 UTC 2012 > >* [BASIC] and the popular programming languages today are all essentially scalar. > They handle one element at a time and use loops to handle arrays.
While the central point of what you are saying is definitely true, remember that it is not necessarily true for people using the *functional approach*. Before I came to J all my array code was comprised of maps and composition of basic functions like transposes, reversals, etc. Nary a loop in sight. And I said before I had no problem with that notation, which shares much with J, in any language that has lambda calculus. So Lispers, Haskellers, MLers, etc, would not find J quite as alien as one might think! The main reason I was attracted to J was the huge performance jump, and also that I didn't want to use something like Matlab, even though it's great with matrices, but not-so-great with other, general, language features. > Telling someone to look at the script in the library to find out how to use [J] won't work. Quite! OK, I am a still only a casual J user, but I never cease to be amazed by how many of its basic features I am still unfamiliar with! > We need to thoroughly document these extensions and consider them part of the J language. Oh, yes. Maybe we need an intro J book that doesn't deal so much with programming concepts, but how to do simple things that are considered integral to a RAD programming IDE. How to change display modes, open a graphics window, build a form, use an external library, link to a db, manage modules, etc. On which note, I must ask: What's the status of Labs under J701(gtk)? Seem to be missing. A few good labs on this sort of thing would be great, and could easily be written cooperatively by the community. Regards AG *> Joey K Tuttle* jkt at qued.com <programming%40forums.jsoftware.com?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BJprogramming%5D%20%40%3A%20and%20capped%20fork&In-Reply-To=%3C50BB9093.5030606%40qued.com%3E> *> Sun Dec 2 17:32:03 UTC 2012 > *> Also, people still have nostalgic memories of BASIC, e.g. > http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/books/2012/11/computer_programming_10_print_chr_205_5_rnd_1_goto_10_from_mit_press_reviewed.html * * Great link! J-stylee programming in BASIC! Made me smile. Just shows you, it's the *spirit* that counts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
