100% is probably a bit high. It is always difficult to predict and give estimates.
One of the best estimates I heard a long time ago is when asked "how many people work here?" and answer "about 50%" I always find quite funny. When you consider that those who do know J and/or APL are considered producing solutions to problems 10 times faster than users of most other languages then whatever number you come up with you can multiply with 10. So it is all a game of numbers and statistics that do not tell you very much. I once heard that statistics is like a bikini because it looks interesting but hides the most important parts. 2009/11/3 Matthew Brand <[email protected]>: > "You can put whatever number you like." > > Okay, thanks. I will go with 100 for now. Anybody got a better estimate :-). > > "Similarly applications you are using could be written in J or APL > without your knowledge of what it is witten in." > I am more interested in how many people are using J to write programs, not > how many people indirectly come in contact with J. > > > 2009/11/3 Björn Helgason <[email protected]> > >> 2009/11/3 Matthew Brand <[email protected]>: >> > Well, whatever the reasonings, it would be nice to be able to put a >> number >> > to the phrase "small user base". >> >> You can put whatever number you like. >> >> One thing is certain and that number is growing and there are all >> kinds of signs you can use to notice how it is growing. >> >> If you look over time you can count the number of messages that have >> been sent to forums. >> >> Discussions about J are carried out in many forums and news groups and >> over the years there are more and more help and lab texts produced in >> wikis and there are more and more demos and addons. >> >> If you like it with growth of plants and trees it is not the fastest >> growing that are always the best or most beautiful. >> >> The trees that grow slowly become the giants of the woods and add one >> more ring each your and outgrow everything else. >> >> J is a branch of APL and as such has been growing steadily for a >> number of years before the start of J. >> >> I am very much interested in the next generation of J that will make >> it easier to use several J sessions on several machines all over the >> world. >> >> Like you would have one main session and send tasks to different machines. >> >> I am sure that facility will make even more people use J without >> knowing they are using J. >> >> It is similar to the situation with Linux. >> >> Most people are using Linux every day without knowing that their >> questions sent to servers that are running Linux. >> >> Similarly applications you are using could be written in J or APL >> without your knowledge of what it is witten in. >> >> So indirectly a lot of people could be APL or J users without knowing it. >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm >> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm -- Björn Helgason, Verkfræðingur Fugl&Fiskur ehf, Þerneyjarsundi 23, Hraunborgum Po Box 127,801 Selfoss , t-póst: [email protected] gsm: +3546985532 Landslags og skrúðgarðagerð, gröfuþjónusta http://groups.google.com/group/J-Programming Tæknikunnátta höndlar hið flókna, sköpunargáfa er meistari einfaldleikans góður kennari getur stigið á tær án þess að glansinn fari af skónum /|_ .-----------------------------------. ,' .\ / | Með léttri lund verður | ,--' _,' | Dagurinn í dag | / / | Enn betri en gærdagurinn | ( -. | `-----------------------------------' | ) | (\_ _/) (`-. '--.) (='.'=) ♖♘♗♕♔♙ `. )----' (")_(") ☃☠ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
