> Finally, I'd like to address the point Ian Clark mentioned about APL, that
> its daunting aspect evokes reactions against it, by pointing to how the
> underlying simplicity helps harness considerable power.  Maybe this will
> motivate people to spend enough time on J to get past the initial
> awkwardness and befuddlement that many people seem to feel.

I think you're right, Devon. I was fascinated by the features you
chose to shopwindow.

You can forgive a language a lot of opacity if you see it looping in
one short expression and applying the slickest stopping-rule I've ever
met in a computer language.
Opacity soon goes away -- especially if you define suitable cover
functions. Prolixity never does.

Ian


On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 4:04 AM, Devon McCormick <[email protected]> wrote:
> The organizer says he'll have either a Mac or an Ubuntu laptop available, so
> that would make it difficult to plan to do any kind of live demo.  Also,
> there are supposed to be something like 17 presenters, so time constraints
> are tight and mandate use of the one laptop.
>
> I probably have 15 minutes worth of "hello, world" variations, but I like
> the way I've done it because the problem is so trivial that it really should
> be put in its place.
>
> My intention is to emphasize the power and ease-of-use of J, how it lets me
> get things done quickly.  I'd also like to motivate people to try it by
> showing how easy it is to get results, hence the graphs, and the potential
> power of being able to write something as advanced as a solver in a single
> line.
>
> Finally, I'd like to address the point Ian Clark mentioned about APL, that
> its daunting aspect evokes reactions against it, by pointing to how the
> underlying simplicity helps harness considerable power.  Maybe this will
> motivate people to spend enough time on J to get past the initial
> awkwardness and befuddlement that many people seem to feel.
>
> Thanks for all the suggestions but the main problem is delivering a coherent
> message in five minutes - I have enough small, interesting examples to fill
> an hour.  Maybe if I can get enough curiosity aroused, I'll get a lengthier
> forum.
>
>
> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 9:00 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> > going to present at the Language Slapdown (
>> > http://www.meetup.com/Language-Slapdown/) on Wednesday.
>> > Please feel free to >take a look and comment.
>>
>> Are you really forced to use static slides?
>>
>> ...
>
> --
> Devon McCormick, CFA
> ^me^ at acm.
> org is my
> preferred e-mail
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
>
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