On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 2:12 PM, bob therriault <[email protected]>wrote:
> Wheww, > > I thought I was really missing some fundamental point on that one! Of > course, adverbs are usually used to modify verbs rather than nouns. > > Further, could you clarify the your understanding of 'u/~' for me? I tend > to look at it as a) adverb '~' modifying adverb '/' which modifies verb 'u', > but perhaps I should look at it as b) adverb '/' modifying the verb 'u' > which produces a verb modified by adverb '~'. I had thought that the > Hook/Adverb rule of the parser indicated a), but looking closer I think that > b) may be correct. > The second method is correct. A great simplifier, for me, was learning to read all operators (adverbs and conjunctions) in a left-to-right manner "before" reading the wider right-to-left precedence (of either verb trains or noun-resolving sentences.) This higher-precedence left-to-right technique typically leaves me with nothing in mind but verbs and nouns, at which point parsing seems much simpler than when I have unresolved operators in question. The way operators are resolved in the opposite direction to verbs makes for one of the great elegances in J, particularly contributing to why parentheses occur rather infrequently. My mental experience of reading J has a corresponding swing-like cadence. I'd wager that helping others resolve operators first, left-to-right, will be a significant aid to their learning J. -- Tracy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
