2 April, 2006
Well, I definitely don't consider this to be a 1st of April joke. The idea
has crossed my brain many times not only for APL compatibility reasons, but
every time I use a { instead of a } or I write := instead of =: or when
I come up with {.@;:.,,]_ and it should have been [;@:,;_1"@ .... :-)
If using Unicode for verbs and nouns would be allowed I myself would use
fonts with really "expressive" characters like the SIL Yi and the SIL Vai.
http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=SILYi_home
http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=SILVai_Features
New symbols that don't have any "predefined" meaning are easy to remember
because they pop in to a "empty" place in your brain, it seems. At least
they don't start a long association process every time you see them...
I know that Ken thought that it was a mistake to use the Greek characters in
APL. I think it was a mistake to think it was a mistake. But there will of
course always be those who think it is a mistake to think it was a mistake
to think it was a mistake...
I miss those Greek characters because they are just as easy to remember as
road signs. They don't have to be decoded or parsed. That's a good thing
with road signs.
Regards,
Gerald
--
Gerald Mylog - a 5100 guy :-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
