(I'm not sure how to include this in the current "thread" - hopefully it
will end up in the right place since its subject is the same with "Re: "
prepended.)
Thank you for the quick feedback from Dan Bron and Raul Miller!
Dan Bron wrote:
But in J we tend to think more in terms of functions (verbs) and
compositions (conjunctions), so that for example you wouldn't have a data
(noun) relationship like this:
AVERAGE_SIZE =: (+/ % #) SIZES NB. AVERAGE_SIZE and SIZES are nouns
you'd be much more likely to express the relationship in terms of
verbs and conjunctions, like this [1]:
avgSize =: (+/ % #)@:sizes NB. avgSize and sizes are
verbs
Thank you for this explanation. This clarifies a lot.
Intuitively it seems that if I follow your suggestion and represent a
dependency as a verb rather than a noun, then this provides a certain
"dynamic-ness" or "lazy-ness" in the sense that the dependency is
always recalculated "at the last minute" based on its functional
definition, ensuring that it always reflects changes in any value(s)
which it depends upon.
Dan Bron wrote:
We do have memory mapped files which update "everywhere" (including across
processes) simultaneously, but you aren't "notified" of this (the global
just always has the "correct", current value).
This is also helpful - using memory-mapped files to update "everywhere".
I am very excited to continue learning about J.
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