Actually, I think the problem of increasing the size of the community is _the_ most important one.
I see dozens and hundreds of packages in languages like R and Python, any one of which might be simple to implement in J, but we're spread too thin to keep up with these much more popular languages, and that's a shame. On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 9:55 AM, Raul Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > I think it's safe to say that the curiosity is there, and that it > stalls out quickly. > > I'm not sure how to solve that - nor even if it should be solved. > > There's probably more important things to worry about. > > Still, it's nice to notice other people who appreciate these kinds of > ideas. > > Thanks, > > -- > Raul > > On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 8:36 AM, Devon McCormick <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Hi Vijay - > > > > Thanks for the sharing your views. It's always good to hear from new > > enthusiasts. Those of us who have been doing this for a long time > > sometimes feel like we're shouting into the wind, so it's good to feel > that > > the community's efforts are appreciated. > > > > I especially appreciate your acknowledgement that much of what we do in > > other languages and environments constitutes wasting our time on > minutiae. > > I have to work in other languages because of work - though I do some J > here > > as well - and feel very keenly the time wasted when I have to code up a > > five- or ten-character J solution in ten or twenty lines of code. > > > > I was recently perusing the J contributions on "dailyprogrammer" (e.g. > > > http://www.reddit.com/r/dailyprogrammer/comments/2rfae0/20150105_challenge_196_practical_exercise_ready/ > ) > > from "Godspiral" and, comparing the his few lines of J to others' pages > of > > C++ or Java, I remain astonished that this disparity doesn't raise more > > curiosity about J. > > > > Regards, > > > > Devon > > > > > > On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 9:04 PM, Vijay Lulla <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> Hi all, > >> I came across the below article by the way of Hacker News. > >> http://brookeallen.com/pages/archives/1234 > >> > >> I'd like to share a couple of my views about J community. I came > across J > >> sometime in 2012 by the way of projecteuler.net. As I learned a little > bit > >> of the J language I realized that I was spending (wasting?) a lot of > time > >> on minutiae in other languages/environments! I kept at it and now J is > my > >> favorite language and I use it almost daily. There are a couple of > things > >> very unique about J: the awesome community, and the amount of > interesting > >> material that this community has generated. > >> > >> I'm also very impressed with the community's interest in always tying > many > >> lessons/insights to its roots. This is unique, at least IMO to J > (probably > >> to APL too but I couldn't say since I've not used it). And the more I > read > >> about people like Ken Iverson, Ian Sharp, and Eugene McDonnell I'm even > >> more impressed. These guys could not help being geniuses...but they > chose > >> to be excellent human beings (Ken Iverson's gesture of dingy bills > >> [mentioned in Beginnings in http://keiapl.org/rhui/remember.htm], Ian > >> Sharp's overall attitude [as listed in > >> http://www.jsoftware.com/papers/IPSA50.htm], and McDonnell's efforts to > >> make J accessible/fun)! I don't think I can find better role models (in > >> programming and real life) to emulate. > >> > >> I don't know why I felt compelled to share this with all of you. I > guess, > >> just to tell you that all your work/efforts have impacted me, very > >> positively, and I appreciate it, as I'm sure many others do, very much. > >> > >> Thanks, > >> Vijay. > >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Devon McCormick, CFA > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > -- Devon McCormick, CFA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
