"J is too rich for beginners" is not really the case, in my experience.
Preschoolers can pick up a bit of J without problem. They'll get bored easily, but that whole motivation side of education hits you on every topic. The problem is more that most of us don't have anything useful to teach. And, J [in isolation] often doesn't solve anything interesting. It's only when you combine it with other topics that it can become useful. Thanks, -- Raul On Sat, Nov 3, 2018 at 5:31 AM 'Bo Jacoby' via Chat <[email protected]> wrote: > > Regarding matematical notation. > J is too rich for beginners. > We first learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Later we > use the minus sign for negative numbers, like -2. Then we do not need > subtraction any more. The difference is written 7+-2, This was not taught in > school. > Calculations are easier when avoiding subtraction: > (a+-b)^2 = (a+-b)(a+-b) = aa+a-b+-ba+-b-b = a^2+b^2-2ab. > Note that a-b is now the product (a)(-)(b) = -ab. You should normally write > -ab rather than a-b in order not to confuse your reader. The difference is > written a+-b. > Of course (-)=-1, or simply -=-1. > Then we learned about exponentiation. a^b. > The power a^- is the reciprocal to a. Formulas need no more contain fraction > bars. We may forget about division. > The power 2^- is one half, and a^2^- is the square root. Formulas need no > more contain root signs. > Multiplication signs are usually omitted, but 23 means twenty three rather > than two times three. Write the product 2^1 3^1 to avoid confusion. Then > the multiplication sign is no longer needed. > These simplifications make elementary formulas nicer. > In J you need not use the division and reciprocal sign (%), the square root > sign (%:), the subtraction (-), > /Bo > > > > > > Den lørdag den 3. november 2018 08.02.42 CET skrev 'robert therriault' > via Chat <[email protected]>: > > Mark Guzdial, a computer education researcher mentioned the Computer and > Mathematical Notation paper http://www.jsoftware.com/papers/camn.htm in his > blog > https://computinged.wordpress.com/2018/11/02/fixing-mathematical-notation-with-computing-and-proving-it-with-education/ > > Further he cited it as an example where success in changing mathematical > notation is measured by using the notation as a better way to educate > students and notes the books that Ken wrote using J to teach mathematics. I > have been surprised that more have not picked up this very important aspect > of J. > > Neat to see this turn up in the educational component of computer science. > > Cheers, bob > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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
