On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 6:25 PM, Boyko Bantchev <[email protected]> wrote: > On 13 April 2011 18:00, Raul Miller <[email protected]> wrote: >> (Or, at least, I was not taught the Peano Postulates in first grade. >> But maybe things have changed, since then? > > And since when is the formal definition of a programming language > similar to anything you learned in first grade? > And since when is DoJ a beginners literature at all, and not a > reference (the most formal and rigorous that we have, the ultimate > authority) on J?
That was exactly my point: People need to learn arithmetic before they can understand mathematical definitions of arithmetic. >> Anyways, it's my experience that mathematical definitions do not >> make sense to someone who has not been exposed to examples.) > > True, but that simply means that we need both, and use them in > parallel. Examples are not a substitute for definitions -- they > are just an illustrative aid. > >> It's either that or you have been proposing no alternatives at all. > > All I have been proposing is replacing the not sufficiently clear > definition of / with a clear one -- just what is expected from a > definition. But, of course, the dictionary's illustrations clear up that issue for people with enough background. -- Raul ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
