Arthur speaks of 20 operators (prefix & infix) as all that K has and needs. I see more in the Vocabulary of J.
1) Can the vocabulary of J be reduced to a smaller number (basis)? Which ones are those? 2) How would the expressiveness in J and K compare? 3) Is it that K needs less because the usage scope is well defined? What I also miss is the need for a new programming language every few years as Arthur says and does. 4) Is it the advances in the technology or discovery of better ways to represent the same constructs? Or?? ~Yuva On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:15 PM, Oleg Kobchenko <[email protected]> wrote: > > Many points hit home: > > * "I never comment anything because I’m always trying to > make it so the code itself is the comment." > > * "the best thing is just to get something running, > and then I’ll redo it probably 10 or 20 times until I > can’t get it any smaller." > > * "the elegant code is always the shortest code" > > * "there are no libraries: those 50 operations are it. > Everybody builds from there, and the resulting programs > are extremely short." > > * "What do you think the analog for > software is? -- Poetry." > > The last exchange is hilarious, with the interviewer, > Bryan Cantrill, author of DTrace, genuinely baffled in disbelief. > > (speaking of a new incarnation of a programming language) > BC Are you actually redoing the implementation, or are > there going to be semantic differences as well? > AW The implementation is 100 percent new. I write > everything from scratch, so the C code is entirely different > but the semantics are about 95 percent the same. > BC You start over in terms of your C code? You take all > that and throw it out? > AW Yes, completely. > BC What does it feel like to part with all that code that’s > so lovingly created? > AW I love starting from scratch—and it’s stupid because > doing the parser, tokenizer, and printer takes me months. > BC Do you find that you can come up with a better > solution? > AW I think they’re getting a little bit better, but I think > I’m converging. > BC Is that advice you would give to practitioners: to > throw out more? > AW Yes, but in business it’s hard to do that. > BC Especially when it’s working! > AW But I love throwing it all out. > > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > > From: Richard Hill <[email protected]> > > To: Chat forum <[email protected]> > > Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 1:25:55 AM > > Subject: [Jchat] Arthur Whitney > > > > Copied from comp.lang.apl > > Btw, I got the link without paying. > > Very interesting reading. > > Richard Hill > > > > Bryan Cantrill, "Interview - A Conversation with Arthur Whitney", ACM > > Queue > > vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 12- 19 (Feb/Mar 2009) > > > > http://mags.acm.org/queue/20090203/ may require ACM membership or > > institutional subscription. > > http://queue.acm.org > > > > > > The interview discusses Arthur Whitney's boyhood introduction to APL > > and its possible influcence on A, A+, K and Q. Arthur mentions Roger > > Hui and J and thinking in Cantonese and poetry, but does not mention > > writing the very first preliminary implementation of J. > > > > Bryan Cantrill, "Interview - A Conversation with Arthur Whitney", ACM > > Queue > > vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 12- 19 (Feb/Mar 2009) > > > > http://mags.acm.org/queue/20090203/ may require ACM membership or > > institutional subscription. > > http://queue.acm.org > > > > > > The interview discusses Arthur Whitney's boyhood introduction to APL > > and its possible influcence on A, A+, K and Q. Arthur mentions Roger > > Hui and J and thinking in Cantonese and poetry, but does not mention > > writing the very first preliminary implementation of J. > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > 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
