On Sun, Jan 23, 2022 at 1:38 PM Henry Rich <[email protected]> wrote: > Couldn't it be that J is used by mathematical programmers because > it's touted as a mathematical language?
Would this be a problem? (I don't know, but it's probably not the complete picture. But, also, mathphobics are not necessarily a key audience.) > Most of the population of the US considers math 'too hard' and will > not touch anything tainted by it. I think programmers (in the US) > by and large share this tendency. Most of the population of the US are not interested in programming. People tend to get into programming either because they need to, to complete a specific task (in which case what attracts them is "almost solutions", "recipes" and so on -- somewhat standardized approaches which are close enough to what they need that they can adapt the approach to their situation), because of careers, or because they found something else motivating about programming. Anyways, ... the "trick" is to find things that interest people, and build on those things. > And I disagree that people doing non-math will use non-J. I use J > for simulations, games, and pretty much everything where I get to > choose the language. I use it for the productivity, not the > mathiness. > In fact, I've never been able to use J to do real math, that is, to > prove theorems. It's a notation of computation, not a notation of > mathematics. A tool of thought, not a tool of proof. I can use J > to help with understanding a problem, but I don't have a big enough > set of identities to make it valuable in proof. Proofs are indeed a popular activity for mathematicians. > J is especially good for math people, but it's not caviar to the > general. Un-mathy highschool students can be writing useful J > programs in a few days - much faster than with Java. And that sounds like an audience we should cater to. Thanks, -- Raul ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
