There used to be a range of (spoken) language CDs with names like "Learn Swedish Now!" "Learn Arabic Now!" They were designed to a common format. One extremely useful feature was a list of "The 100 most-used words in the language", ranked in order of usage.
Inspired by this, I once extracted from my own scripts a list of J primitives ranked by usage. But I've lost the results. I do recall they surprised me. This could be the basis for a coding challenge -- a rather easy one if you use (;:) -- write a verb (or a script) which scans a folder of scripts and builds a table of primitives ordered by usage. Then perhaps we could all run it on our own "j-user" folders and compare results :-) BTW In the 1970s I was offered a tape for research: the 2741 keystroke log of a busy IBM APL shop. In the space of a year, "Domino" (⌹ -- equivalent to %. in J) was keyed-in precisely twice. Once as a typo. And once as a filler-char for a crude histogram. ...And Domino was touted at the time as the flagship feature of APL! On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 5:43 PM, km <[email protected]> wrote: > Here's a shot at specifying a J core by deleting things from the Vocabulary > page. > > --Kip Murray > >>> << Usr Pri JfC LJ Phr Dic Rel Voc !: Help Dictionary > > Vocabulary ( Constants Controls Foreigns Parts of Speech ) > > = • Equal =. Is (Local) =: Is (Global) > < Box • Less Than <. Floor • Lesser Of (Min) <: Decrement • Less > Or Equal >> Open • Larger Than >. Ceiling • Larger of (Max) >: Increment • Larger >> Or Equal > _ Negative Sign / Infinity _. Indeterminate _: Infinity > > + Conjugate • Plus +. Real / Imaginary • GCD (Or) +: Double • Not-Or > * Signum • Times *. Length/Angle • LCM (And) *: Square • Not-And > - Negate • Minus -. Not • Less -: Halve • Match > % Reciprocal • Divide > %: Square Root • Root > > ^ Exponential • Power ^. Natural Log • Logarithm ^: Power (u^:n u^:v) > $ Shape Of • Shape > $: Self-Reference > ~ Reflex • Passive / Evoke ~. Nub • ~: Nub Sieve • Not-Equal > | Magnitude • Residue |. Reverse • Rotate (Shift) > > > > > : Explicit / Monad-Dyad > :: Adverse > , Ravel • Append ,. Ravel Items • Stitch ,: Itemize • Laminate > ; Raze • Link > ;: Words > > # Tally • Copy > > ! Factorial > !: Foreign > / Insert • Table > /: • Sort > \ Prefix > \: • Sort > > [ Same • Left [: Cap > ] Same • Right > { • From {. Head • Take {: Tail • > } • Amend (m} u}) }. Behead • Drop }: Curtail • > > " Rank (m"n u"n) ". Do • ": Default Format • Format > > > @ Atop @. Agenda @: At > & Bond / Compose &. &.: Under (Dual) &: Appose > ? Roll • Deal ?. Roll • Deal (fixed seed) > > a. Alphabet a: Ace (Boxed Empty) > b. Boolean / Basic > > > > e. • Member (In) > E. • Member of Interval > > > i. Integers • Index Of i: Steps • Index Of Last I. Indices • Interval > Index > j. Imaginary • Complex > > > NB. Comment > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >>> << Usr Pri JfC LJ Phr Dic Rel Voc !: Help Dictionary > > Sent from my iPad > > > On Mar 15, 2013, at 10:27 AM, Greg Borota <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> 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/ >> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
