Not just to back up Henry publicly, but J is a great "information theory" language suitably replacing sql. Sql is not "marketed" as math. While q/k is marketed for "information theory", J is more powerful, and, I've found, easily enhanced to provide q's syntactic sugar for information processing. J's user defined modifiers are power. Power that goes well beyond sql/q/k and beyond "just math". So, the "computational" adjective is deserved, IMO.
On Sunday, January 23, 2022, 01:38:20 p.m. EST, Henry Rich <henryhr...@gmail.com> wrote: Couldn't it be that J is used by mathematical programmers because it's touted as a mathematical language? 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. 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. 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. Henry Rich On 1/23/2022 1:04 PM, Michail L. Liarmakopoulos wrote: > Hello, > > Personally I think that while J is a general purpose language, it surely > attracts more mathematically oriented programmers. > > Also I think the definition Bob mentioned earlier stems from the fact that > J is linked to APL and to the "notation as a tool of thought" of Ken. > > So I don't think that mentioning or promoting the mathematical edge that > the language has (that makes it a strong competitor to python+numpy, Julia > or R) is a disadvantage. > > Programmers not interested in solving mathematical problems on a computer > will choose a different language either way, such as C, C++, Java, python, > Golang, etc. > > Best, > Michail > > --- > Michail L. Liarmakopoulos, MSc > > On Sun, Jan 23, 2022, 17:32 Raul Miller <rauldmil...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Sun, Jan 23, 2022 at 10:41 AM Henry Rich <henryhr...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> I strongly recommend removing the word 'mathematical' from the >>> one-line description of J. Most programmers are not highly, or >>> even moderately, mathematical, and people will be afraid that J is >>> for somebody else. >> Many are not, but many are. >> >> That said, those that are almost invariably have a specific focus >> (machine learning, finance, statistics, graphics, logistics, etc.) >> >> And, mathematics is itself a huge field where individuals invariably >> specialize in their own niche. >> >> (So I am not disagreeing with your recommendation -- I am instead >> thinking that the mathematical aspects need some focus and specifics >> to be relevant.) >> >> Thanks, >> >> -- >> Raul >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm >> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
