It took me a few days to get used to the fact that heroes are mortal. I learned APL in the early eighties at the company, Philips, where I was working then. My colleague, Louis van Geldrop, who was a big fan of APL, had introduced IP Sharp, and Philips had acquired one or more of its packages. Fast forward 15 years, when I was on early retirement in the late nineties and was looking which of the APL dialects I would use as a programming language, I asked Louis and he advised J which he thought was best for a mathematician, although he also mentioned K. In a very steep learning curve I became ever more experienced with the most mathematical language I've ever heard of. In posts to the forum I compared J with a fine instrument, say a violin, with which you as a user can make the most elegant solutions. And Hui was the Stradivari of J (https://www.stradivarius.org/). The first time I 'met' him, i.e. I saw his name mentioned, he was compared to the archangel Gabriel (http://www.jsoftware.com/pipermail/general/2001-July/007034.html), which brought me to this rather recent post (http://www.jsoftware.com/pipermail/chat/2018-March/007647.html ), comparing him with The Holy Spirit. The second time and years later, I felt honored immensely when he used my solution in the Vocabulary (https://www.jsoftware.com/help/dictionary/d202v.htm). AFAIK the name of no one else is in the VOC. The last time we 'met', Hui learned something from me. In http://www.jsoftware.com/pipermail/programming/2010-April/019205.html I was using the gerund (!) 'pimping' from a verb unknown to Hui (http://www.jsoftware.com/pipermail/programming/2010-April/019211.html). Fortunately, Bron came to the rescue (http://www.jsoftware.com/pipermail/programming/2010-April/019212.html ).
In my opinion Roger Hui achieved something only a few of us are able to, to influence positively the lives of many other people. My mathematical thinking after learning J improved beyond what I thought was possible. I will always honor him for that, together with the other heroes of J. R.E. Boss -----Original Message----- From: Programming <[email protected]> On Behalf Of 'Rob Hodgkinson' via Programming Sent: woensdag 20 oktober 2021 01:08 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Jprogramming] Roger Hui - 1953 - 2021 I too feel very sad in Roger’s passing. My only comment is that I have rarely met a person who was so clear, firm, intelligent, decisive, kind and gentle all rolled into one. And funny how that reminds me of both Ken and Roger alike. RIP Roger, you are and will be, sorely missed but never forgotten. > On 20 Oct 2021, at 6:16 am, Clifford Reiter <[email protected]> wrote: > > Oh my! It is so sad to have lost Roger. He is missed. > I offer two quips to the J community. One on his skilled programming > and the other on his being a wonderful human being with a kind sense > of humor. > Forgive me if my memories are incorrect, but here goes. I believe both > Roger and I gave papers at APL 95. > https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/206913 > Remember, this was 1995, about the time of my first version of FVJ. > One was greatly challenged to create a 1000x1000 image on a PC, let > alone do serious processing. My paper was basically a gripe about > where J had wonderful primitives to express automata and image > processing but one needed to find work arounds (in J) to be efficient > enough in space in time. I think my talk (maybe not the paper) > presented 4 examples of where I needed work arounds (remember > conference talks on transparencies?). Roger attended my talk. After I > had flown home, I received a note from Roger saying that he had fixed > 3 of my complaints on the plane ride home and the 4th took a tad > longer. Roger's programming skill was and is a great gift to the J > community. > In that same era, 1997, my family (4 young children, wife and I) was > hosted for a U. Waterloo Sabbatical at Ken's Kiln Farm in between the > university and Toronto. So Roger and Ken had several opportunities to > interact with our family. A few years later, Roger had a family of his > own and we met at another conference -- I can't date it. But Roger > chastised me for not telling him how wonderful it is to have a family. > Roger had a kind sense of humor and deeply loved his family. > Rest in Peace Roger. > Best regards, Cliff > > On Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 11:20 AM ethiejiesa via Programming > <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Man. Meeting The Hui was one of the top items I had on my bucket list... >> >> It approaches midnight here as I sit and contemplate the vastness of >> Roger's causal ripples, ever expanding into spacetime. Listening to >> the recapitulations of his peers, indeed many of these ripples sound >> more like monumental >> swells: valued as a darn good human being; admired as a programmer >> par excellence; appreciated for solidary and conscientious >> contributions to the J/APL community. >> >> To borrow an expression from Terry Tao, he surely must have been an >> extremal point in the convex hull of all intellectuals. >> >> I would loved to have a conversation with you, Roger. >> F*** cancer. >> >> My condolences and heart go out to his family and friends. >> >> >> Eric Iverson <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Roger Hui passed away peacefully on Saturday afternoon, October 16, 2021. >>> >>> He had a several year struggle with cancer and was in a hospice with >>> his hands held by his wife Stella and their children Rachel and Nicholas. >>> >>> Roger created J with Ken and made major contributions to APL. But >>> all that has been farthest from my mind the last 24 hours. What I >>> think about is the joy I saw when watching Ken and Roger together. I >>> remember Ken telling me how Roger asked if it would be OK to bring >>> his girlfriend to dinner with Ken and Jean. And how they were >>> surprised by the coincidence that her name was Ken's mother's name. >>> No one was surprised by the integrity and soundness of the family that he >>> and Stella made. >>> >>> Yes, Roger was a coder extraordinaire. But what was important is >>> that he was a rock solid good person. His calm and measured way in >>> life and in his last years should be a model to all. >>> >>> (Roger would have insisted that any comments go to chat) >>> -------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> -- 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
