On Jul 15, 2014 3:14 PM, "Erling Hellenäs" <[email protected]> wrote: > > A program doesn't have to be readable? If you want to find out > mhow it works testing it at the terminal is the proper way? /Erling > >
Were I forced to make a binary choice on this, I'd say "readability" should NOT be a goal when programming. The serious problem with the inverse assertion has been discussed in this thread previously by others: we cannot know what that means well enough to use it as a criterion. It's hard enough to determine whether a program *works*, i.e. whether it has appropriate results for all input. Whether it is "readable" in general presumes far more context than I prefer to presume. I'm happy to talk over specific alternatives in phrasing, but not to discuss vague goals for an unidentifiable public. -- Tracy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
