I think the idea of a modern J IDE delivered as a web app is really cool and would help promote the language. And I like the idea of using off-the-shelf components which are field-tested and supported by a broader community, rather than inventing our very own wheel.
But I also agree that a lot of attention has gone into the development environment, rather than our real treasure: the language! Though we've incremented the version number, our actual interest, the programming language, hasn't changed in years. Like the old Folger's coffee commercials, I bet if I secretly switched your J8 DLL with a J5 DLL, you'd never notice the difference. In fact, unless you use the dyad ;: , I bet I could put J4 in there! Though our language, as it stands, is a wonderful treasure, and a testament to Ken's foresight and Roger's effort, there is no such thing as perfect, or even completed, software. So, I would be much more interested in seeing developments in the core language than in peripherals like the IDE. And, now that we have the source, we have the opportunity to see that kind of development. What we are sorely lacking is the infrastructure to build it, and run the test suite, so that we can make changes with confidence. JSoftware is not going to supply one, and the current OpenJ project is stalled for that. We can't even play with the exciting new toys Pepe announced last week (though Thomas and Pepe are willing to take the time to build and supply a custom binary, thankfully). I don't know what to suggest as a remedy. I personally don't have the expertise to create a build system for J. I'm barely competent enough in C to muddle through the source if someone provided a 1-click build/test suite. I just know we need one. -Dan Please excuse typos; composed on a handheld device. On Mar 7, 2013, at 9:09 AM, Murray Eisenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 7 Mar 2013 12:46:24 +0100, Martin Saurer <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> To everybody who wants to check out an experimental new browser based J IDE. >> >> http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/Scripts/qjide >> >> ...Your feedback will be highly appreciated.. . . > > The curse of programming is developers of programming languages! > > While I'm not complaining in particular about this one effort, surely it's > more important to get the major development efforts now underway -- jhs and > jqt -- working fully and robustly, for all platforms and to encompass all the > usual things that j602, and earlier versions, allowed, including > documentation, labs, graphics, demos, etc. Rather than leave things in the > half-implemented state we seem to be in right now. > > --- > Murray Eisenberg [email protected] > Mathematics & Statistics Dept. > Lederle Graduate Research Tower phone 413 549-1020 (H) > University of Massachusetts 413 545-2838 (W) > 710 North Pleasant Street fax 413 545-1801 > Amherst, MA 01003-9305 > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
