That was my thought also, 0j1. The videos probably don't need to show the matrix creation, since that isn't what the video is demonstrating.
However, every NuVoc page description has that same issue. How do you show matrix addition, without showing how to create the matrices in the first place? For that matter, what makes up a J symbol? That is the primary difficulty with a random-access reference/tutorial. How can you make every NuVoc page provide enough information so that it can be the first page that a novice sees, and still provide all the information they need to understand the specific symbol that they are looking up? Putting start-up information on every NuVoc page tends to make for lots of redundancy. Hyperlinking can take care of some of the page clutter, but there will still be much redundancy on every NuVoc page. We could take the same approach as the video, leaving out the actual matrix creation and assignment on the NuVoc pages. However, that makes it difficult for a new reader to replicate the steps on the NuVoc descriptions, and leaves a newbie asking more questions than the page answers. Assignment and matrix creation are only part of the problem, however. There are several more concepts that a newbie should know to read any page in the NuVoc reference. one-and two character symbols, assignment, monadic/dyadic, parts-of-speech, matrix creation, etc. are all things that every newbie should know, before jumping into the NuVoc pages. I think we have two main approaches to making every NuVoc description page accessible to the newbie. One approach is to have a "Read This First" page that all newbies would see before they start into the NuVoc reference. This page would have to be structured so that it would be presented to every newbie before entering the NuVoc definition pages. The "Read me First" page could explain the basics such as the one-or-two-character symbols, monadic and dyadic usages, parts-of-speech, assignment, and perhaps some basic matrix creation. It could even pre-define several global variables such as w, x, y, and z which would then be used throughout the NuVoc definitions pages. In this way, we wouldn't have to show the initial matrix creation on every NuVoc page, or explain monadic, or verbs, etc. Each NuVoc page would be written with the assumption that the reader has already read the "Read This First" page. In this way, there would be a basic set of knowledge that would be assumed for the NuVoc page reader. An alternate approach would be to show the matrix creation and other concepts in each NuVoc page code, but hyperlink the various symbols (=. $ i.) to their appropriate NuVoc pages, with some appropriate comments (like "create a 3 x3 matrix and assign it to x" ) . In that way, the newbie user can click on the hyperlink to see what the symbol does. The more I think about it, the more I like the "Read Me First" page. It allows us to avoid lots of redundancy on each NuVoc description page, yet provides the novice with a jumpstart before entering the NuVoc pages. I think I will try to write such a page, to see how it goes. . Skip Cave . 0j1 wrote: > You could show the J code using variables such as x and y, and display the > values of x and y graphically without showing how they were created. > > bob therriault wrote: > >> Hi Skip, >> The challenge I faced with showing the J code for these reference videos was >> how to create a matrix without introducing either the Shape ($) or Integer >> (i.) verbs into the explanation (which increases both the duration and the >> cognitive loading). For the tutorial approach, I think the 'coding window' >> is >> essential, but not so much for the reference. Any ideas on how I can get the >> 'code' back into the reference video efficiently would be welcome. >> 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
