Thanks, Joe. I have Introductions to J coming out my ears. And before that, Introductions to APL. IMFFHO they all miss the boat. I think at long last I can now write one which touches the button for a bona fide J know-nothing.
Arrogance? Not a bit of it. I've simply looked at what other (more popular/successful) language systems do. In a nutshell – what we don't. IF you have a treatment to-hand which you read when you genuinely knew nothing about J ANDIF it motivated you to invest your scarce time in engaging with the language THEN I'd like to see it. ELSE. * * * * * This doesn't look good as I re-read it, I have to admit. But I'm too old to be polite if it means not being honest. On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 6:04 PM, Joe Bogner <[email protected]> wrote: > Ah, I see. I thought to mention just in case the typical programmer domain > vocabulary could be avoided or replaced with more J-like terms, which seems > to intentionally have chosen simpler, more recognizable terms. I presumed > you were familiar with some of the existing material but I find it useful > to refresh my memory on what's out there when starting something new. > > I'm curious, are you writing a "first-contact" text for J? I have read > through several Introduction to J type blog posts or essays over the years > that I can pass along if you're interested. There may be something to lift > or compare to style-wise. > > > > On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 11:42 AM, Ian Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Sorry, Joe, I want "common programmer terms" for "platform, program, > etc", > > i.e. terms common to all programmers, not just J-ers. > > > > Especially not J-ers! > > > > I tried looking up some of these terms in the Oxford Dictionary of > English > > (courtesy Apple) and I'm impressed. It seems it has authoritative but > > straightforward meanings under the subheading "Computing" for all I've > > tried > > . > > > > But I'm still hoping to hear what ISO standard people on this list use, > or > > some standards body. I'm taking the baffled silence to mean that nobody > has > > ever used such a list. The fabled precision of IT professionals doesn't > > extend to terminology, it seems. > > > > Such lists exist. I've seen them – though only in German, and that was > > decades ago. Documenters need them for the purpose of translating > manuals. > > Though maybe the whole thing is still woolly, like it was in my day. An > > Arab once told me he always used the English manual because he couldn't > > make head or tail of the Arabic one. > > > > On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 2:57 PM, Joe Bogner <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I went back and looked at some of the existing material > > > > > > This seems to be a good list of definitions with examples: > > > http://www.jsoftware.com/help/primer/contents.htm > > > > > > This text seems devoid of too many terms: > > > http://www.jsoftware.com/books/pdf/easyj.pdf > > > > > > Of course, I'm not reading these with "beginner eyes" so both may still > > > need to be unpacked more > > > > > > On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 7:28 AM, Ian Clark <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > > > It's absurdly difficult to write a good "first-contact" text for J > > > without > > > > reference to a single accepted source of definitions like: platform, > > > > program, app, script, variable, constant, function, array, string, > > > > character, number … > > > > > > > > Is there an ISO standard for common programmer terms (in English)? > > > > > > > > If the answer is: legion (…my first impression) – then is there one > > that > > > > stands out for you? > > > > > > > > I have an operational need for a weblink to a good clear published > free > > > > authoritative text. To avoid cluttering this thread, please don't > offer > > > > your own definitions of the above terms here (although of course I'd > be > > > > frightfully interested to hear them one day.) > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > ---------- > > > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/ > forums.htm > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
