On Sat, Apr 26, 2014 at 2:28 PM, Raul Miller <[email protected]> wrote:
> When learning J, or any other programming language (and this also > applies in various non-programming contexts), it's important to pace > yourself. > Yes, for me this means fighting the urge to understand the relevancy of Pepe's functional extensions or Pascal's eval tricks. I have found J one of the most challenging and rewarding languages to learn. The ramp from start to capable beginner is quite steep, as many of us have recognized before. The path is filled with enticing detours into deep and complex topics. > I guess one important issue has to do with making connections. Each of > us has our own particular realms of experiences and expertise. For > example: me knowing something that you do not know does not help > either of us draw a connection between that piece of information and > something which you know but which I do not. > > I think this is particularly challenging in a group with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of experience. I can think of several times where I was not able to communicate in a way that connected with the audience the first or second try. It seems that being as concrete as possible and using test cases / examples helps a great deal. I have even found that writing up a question and working through the test cases can be enough where I've hit the "discard" button on my mail message because I've figured it out. It also helps to have a patient audience that enjoys teaching. Sometimes, if it works, it's worth exploring further or talking about. > > Anyways, you cannot learn from your mistakes if you never make them. > And you also need to allow time for reflection, to really understand > these lessons. > I would be greatly interested in a book or activity guide that focused on learning J in small steps. Other books, Learning J and J for C are great as tours of the language. The labs are also fun. I haven't yet tried the exercises in the Dictionary -- are those recommended? The amount of materials is so vast that is can be daunting to know where to start. Since this is chat, I'll compare to something more personal. I have had it on my goals for awhile to read the entire Bible. It was only this year that I've been effective due to a reading plan that forces me to read every day and breaks it into manageable chunks. I've stuck with it. There are other approaches I've seen in religion like a daily book of passages to reflect upon. Anyhow, it seems like something like that could work for people and relates to the consistent practice theme. I know we all have plenty of priorities and creating something like this would be just one more thing for the community to consider. This is something that I believe could be monetized as I personally would be willing to pay for some resource like it - something like the price of a book or two. It would be also rewarding to be a part of a group that was going through the book / guide / plan at the same time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
