When we talk about less-mathematical examples of J, there was this package for planning dances, complicated ones with lots of people, like contra-dance, which used animated stick figures. I think it was by Ric Sherlock? Something like that as an example might go a long way in a less mathy crowd.
On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 10:40 PM HH PackRat <[email protected]> wrote: > On 1/23/22, Henry Rich <[email protected]> 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. > > Amen! I think that in the eyes of many people, "mathematics" is > something for math specialists in universities and research > institutions, not for the average man on the street. I started my > programming experience in 1976 on a MITS Altair 8800 with Altair BASIC > (by Microsoft). Doing "math" by using words (language commands) > instead of gradeschool arithmetic and highschool algebra formulas was > a whole new way of looking at things. Thirty years later (2006) a > library colleague (IT department head) suggested that I take a look at > the J language, and I've been "hooked" ever since. > > > 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. > > I feel that J is *not* a math-specific language (that is, for math > people only), but that it is a *general* programming language capable > of accomplishing a multitude of things, not just higher math > calculations of one type or another (although it is very capable of > those). Like Henry, I use J for all sorts of non-"math" things. > Right now, most of my J programming is struggling with (and learning > from) writing some elementary (and slightly more advanced) stock > market applications. Sure, those use numbers, but that's not "math" > in the sense that most people think of the higher math "fraternity", > for lack of a better term in my mind just now. (I am NOT deprecating > those who work with higher math!--I am more attempting to separate > "specialists" from "hobbyists", the latter including me.) J is great > for "dabblers" who want to accomplish a particular project without the > typically large amount of code necessary in other languages (such as > the various versions and varieties of the BASIC language I used during > those first 30 years). J helps me to write practical, down-to-earth > applications for helping (and, perhaps some day soon, sharing with) > others, that might lead to them investigating J, too. (I even > specifically mentioned J in an article I wrote about W.D. Gann that > was published last spring in the journal "Cycles" of the Foundation > for the Study of Cycles.) > > > 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 ... > > J is especially good for math people, but it's not caviar to the general. > > Again, amen! Since (to me) one of J's greatest "feats" is handling > and modifying whole tables at once, it helps (almost forces) me (and, > I presume, others, too) to look at the larger picture and not just at > the tiny steps required by other languages. In a sense, this "frees" > the programmer from worrying (or paying attention to) minutiae and > helps him/her to focus on what's important. > > Very interesting topic! > > Harvey > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > -- Devon McCormick, CFA Quantitative Consultant ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
