R is seriously on the rise owing to the 'big data' trend. That is taking R into areas like Hadoop and Cassandra.
On Wed, 3 Dec 2014 21:36 Don Kelly <d...@shaw.ca> wrote: > I wrote a program in APL, some 30 years ago, which was essentially a > database program which fit the needs of a university department where > the conventional programs were not sataisfactory. It was possible to fit > this to the specialized needs as expressed by the person who did all the > bookkeeping. Data was entered in blanks on a form and other forms were > called on as needed. Effectively the random access data array was a > 'spreadsheet' The original program was in IBM 360 APL but later > rewritten for a PC (using an STSC APL with no boxing. The manuals that > came with the APL version along with Gilman & Rose were very useful in > writing the program > However, while I am sure that the same thing could be done as or more > effectively in J . The only bind would be conversion, if needed, to and > from various spreadsheet or datafile formats in common use.. > > Don Kelly > > On 02/12/2014 1:58 PM, Piet de Jong wrote: > > Perhaps one of the issues is the cumbersome input/output of > > “real world” data. > > > > Input/output of data organised in say a spreadsheet is one of the > > first things a serious user would like to achieve so that he/she can > > get on with manipulations. > > > > I know this is possible with tara etc and much appreciate the efforts > > that have gone into the same. However a novice is instantly confronted > > with “where is tara”, “how do I load it”, “how are directories/folders > structured” ,… > > In other words a big hurdle and hassle. > > > > Why not have a verb say “X.” or similar in J which reads/writes > > spreadsheets. The definition could > > > > X.=.readxlworkbook > > > > where the latter is as in tara. > > > > My sense is that reading and writing spreadsheets is more useful to > > many J users or potential J users than, e.g. the anagram index A. > > (I’m not suggesting the latter is not useful). Purists may object > > since reading spreadsheets can be “easily” composed from more > > elementary verbs. However this does not seem to be an objection > > elsewhere in the language e.g. > > > > x u/.y ↔ (=x) u@# y) > > > > Perhaps I am mistaken. > > > >> On 3 Dec 2014, at 8:34 am, Skip Cave <s...@caveconsulting.com> wrote: > >> > >> Actually, there was one person, Al Rose, who used to travel around with > an > >> IBM Selectric typewriter with an APL type ball, an acoustic coupler, > and a > >> small video camera and TV screen, demonstrating APL. He was a co-author > of > >> the famous book "APL, an Interactive Approach" <http://amzn.to/1vM5BJX> > He > >> put on a great show with APL, using the Selectric, showing off all the > APL > >> primitives. I will never forget how he described the interpreter's > output: > >> "it outputs the result right on the paper, like a house-trained > puppy!" I > >> think he got quite a few people started in APL. At least, I was one! > >> > >> Skip > >> > >> Skip Cave > >> Cave Consulting LLC > >> > >> On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 1:04 AM, Scott Locklin <sc...@lugos.name> wrote: > >> > >>> The learning curve is pretty steep, and with all respect due this > group, > >>> there is not yet a Paul Graham who has both the chops to get rich > using the > >>> tool, and the literary skill to enthrall people on the subject. > >>> > >>> Personally I am a novelty seeker. I liked Lisp, but was unhappy with > it as > >>> a numerics language (though it is quite capable of doing a good job > here). > >>> Never would have tried it if it were not for the eloquent Paul Graham > >>> essays. I suspect a lot of people are like that. I daresay there would > be > >>> no Clojure or F# without Paul Graham. With J, I got lucky. I was > trying to > >>> build a mousetrap in Lisp, and someone smarter than me pointed out > that it > >>> would be a lot easier in J, and a lot of other things became super > easy as > >>> well. > >>> > >>> The main downside to such languages is ... using popular languages > after > >>> fooling around in a lisp or in J feels like going from a Porsche to > Fred > >>> Flintstone's car with cement wheels. Upside is, you can often find APL > or > >>> Lisp in a decent programming environment. Like learning latin. > >>> > >>> On a related topic, Kevin Lawler (author of Kona among other things) > >>> pointed this course out to me the other day; a course on approximate > >>> solutions to computationally hard problems taught in K. Man, I wish I > had > >>> taken such a course, taught in K or J. It looks mind melting. > >>> > >>> http://cs.nyu.edu/courses/fall11/CSCI-GA.2965-001/ > >>> > >>> > >>> -SL > >>> > >>>> I'm not being rhetorical here but how would I have learned of array > >>>> languages if I hadn't had mental machinery (makeup?) to set aside my > >>>> biases/prejudices and give a new idea a decent chance (apparently > this is > >>>> hard in itself!!! who knew??)?? > >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > >>> > >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
