I rely on stdlib.ijs (used for: where you say z-locale) being rock-solid... it's a fine aide-memoir for less-used functionality, enhances readability in the best of ways, and has never let me down in cross-platform, cross-version work. I would recommend beginners to make friends with it from the outset, ie to use it as if it were part of the base language, as I recall "stdlib" being in C/C++.
Much the same can be said for files.ijs and strings.ijs, as in: require 'files strings' Whatever might be found in the z-locale is a different matter, as Ric and the others are telling you. You're right to feel it's fragile. In my own J-installation, half the verbs in _z_ I've put there myself, and they get altered every so often. Many others come from packages or addons, which you opt for -- and *they* get altered every so often. Here are some of mine in _z_ (in the vein of stdlib): and=: *. or=: +. any=: +./ From which you can deduce my mentality. I code with other things than J on my mind (like: the problem domain) and I prefer my if.-statements to work first time -- and forever. Some people get their kicks from debugging -- and code accordingly. I don't -- not if the bug was avoidable. Whoever wrote jijs.ijs was evidently of the same mind To sniff over any new word I've discovered, I make heavy use of my home-brewed: whs=: (>@whichlocales) ; whichscript used like this: whs'deb' ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┬─┬─┬─┬────┬────┐ │/Applications/j602/system/main/strings.ijs│z│z│j│jfiw│jijs│ └──────────────────────────────────────────┴─┴─┴─┴────┴────┘ ...from which you see "deb" resides all over the place (in identical copies, fortunately :) I find "whs" egregiously useful. Most of the bugs I encounter come from what is [not] loaded, and where it is [from]. The verbs it needs: whichlocales, whichscript, along with: listnameswithprefix (just as useful) can be copied from: http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/Phrases/Names . It happens they are *not* part of stdlib. I think they should be. (@Ric; how about it?) IanClark On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 3:35 AM, The Geeko <[email protected]> wrote: > Ian Clark <earthspotty@...> writes: > >> >> Henry might have added that L:0 is a useful enough idiom to have been >> packaged-up in the z-locale (stdlib.ijs) as: leaf >> type'leaf' > > I had recognized seeing 'leaf' in my readings. But, I am hesitant to use > the items that have been packaged in the z-locale. I haven't read anywhere > that > these definitions are "locked in." > > Perhaps you know more about this topic. After an earlier discussion > of mine, I went digging through the forum. I realized that there had > been a pointed discussion about the subject. > > And, I realized that changes were introduced that caused old scripts to break. > So, relying on the z-locale appears to me to be risky. > > Again, you may know better. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
