Thank you Devon for letting me know about "Beginner's Regatta". I was on the lookout for something like that.
On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 11:14 AM, Devon McCormick <[email protected]>wrote: > Greg - > > thank you for your feedback - this is very valuable to those of us who have > forgotten the problems we faced when first learning J. > > Your ideas for some simple introductory materials are good - I'll bring > this up at a meeting of NYCJUG and look at what parts of this I can > contribute. We do have a regular "Beginner's Regatta" section of our > meetings where we attempt to provide simple examples of using J - you might > try searching for this term on the J wiki to see if you find anything > helpful there. > > (An aside on the word "regatta" - we chose this name with the idea that a > regatta is a kind of parade of different kinds of boats but I see from > Wikipedia that the meaning is more about a series of boat races, often > accompanied by social events (like a parade). It was this parade idea we > meant to emphasize, though we sometimes show timings of various ways of > doing things in J, so the "racing" metaphor also works.) > > Regards, > > Devon > > > On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 11:27 AM, Greg Borota <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I am currently learning J. I think I am beyond a critical point, where > > I can no longer see myself giving up on this endeavour, as there is much > to > > lose professionally otherwise. > > > > Some initial thoughts: > > > > 1) Even though I spent most of my time in C land, I would recommend Roger > > Stokes' "Learning J" after the Eric Iverson' "J Primer". It felt to me > like > > J for C starts gently and then all of the sudden you are plunged deep > into > > advanced stuff without much preparation. While "Learning J" follows more > > the spirit of the Primer where new concepts are added more gently. I plan > > on going back to J for C after I read the Primer and LJ one more time. > > > > 2) Roger Stokes has a new version of LJ here: http://www.rogerstokes > > .free-online.co.uk/book.htm Shouldn't J site use that instead? > > > > 3) I am not the first to mention this. I wish there was a minimal J > > language core documented/available. I see veterans on this forum saying > > things like: "I almost never use some of those verbs". Is there not a > > minimal J language core targeting general language use? For example, > > leaving out specifics like numerical analysis, statistics, etc. This > > might help some not drop by the way side. E.g. http://xprogramming > > .com/category/j-language/ > > > > 4) Whenever it felt like dropping, browsing through papers like "Notation > > as a tool of thought" or "Language as an intellectual tool: From > > hieroglyphics to APL" helped boost my motivation to stay the course. > Maybe > > creating a "Why learn J" section on J site where this kind of papers, > > articles, etc. are referenced would help many. > > > > 5) English is not my native language. With the Internet, anything posted > > online in English has automatically a global audience. Maybe keeping that > > in mind and going easier on un-common/literary English words would help J > > adoption some more? It's a pity APL language family are not > > more mainstream. I think our profession has much to lose because of the > > current state of things. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > > > > -- > Devon McCormick, CFA > ^me^ at acm. > org is my > preferred e-mail > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
