I think Dissect could be a hook for the new user. It could benefit from
a masterclass, as Ian suggests, but I don't think that's necessary.
Seeing execution of a whole sentence all at once is such a different way
of approaching debugging that some will find it captivating. Just show
a couply of pretty screens and talk about how to get them.
If the user takes the hook, they will see as they explore that only an
APL-family language, with primitives that operate on arrays, can show
results this way. The masterclass can come later, if ever.
Henry Rich
On 7/29/2022 11:54 AM, Ian Clark wrote:
Hi Bob,
Were you thinking of a documentary style format, given the in depth topic
idea?...
Let me know if you have preferred topic to begin with.
Yes, but only up to a point. Wall-to-wall talking heads and vaguely
relevant wallpaper is boring. Veritasium seems to have the right mix, at
least with his earlier videos. Though I'm thinking of a lot less
talk-into-camera. Voice-over with a live session is better (if no fumbles).
Ex-IBM Human Factors, my guiding star has been: spoonfeed the new user. But
a meaty masterclass on (say) debugging may fire-up a J newcomer if it's not
couched in J-speak or somehow else mystified.They may not follow the detail
without doing some homework, but be impressed with how much easier it is
than they're used to.
*Masterclass topics*
J best-practice.
J tools to make life easier for the jobbing programmer, the use of which
may not be obvious to a beginner. Or tools which suit a particular sort of
workflow or problem-solving approach, which even a J journeyman might not
know about.
The sort of things that are *not* to be found in the programming forum or
NuVoc, but more like a chapter from 50 Shades Of J, or At Play With J.
Making a video from a APWJ chapter might be a good example to start with,
since the script is almost written for you.
*Topics on my own to-do list*
to write articles about:
Debugging
using (13!:) versus Run > debug…
Avoiding use of debug at all via line-by-line re-execution in the session
manager, having assigned (y=:…) and (x=:…) .
stdlib gems
ignoring verbs that a C++ programmer would expect to be there, or verbs
like mean or avg, which are flaunted for their gee-whizz value.
string handling
Not just { {. {: but stdlib tools like rplc, (;:), taketo, regex.
Handling unicode.
Understanding someone else's tacit expression, e.g. examples from _z_
locale or addons.
Use of (13 :), addon: tte, dissect.
Reducing to a train and dividing into triples.
In fact *dissect* merits a whole masterclass to itself.
It's something I've never got on top of (having long fossilized my J usage
and so never felt the need for).
Rank
how it makes functional composition far easier to code than does APL
why J needs so many confusing conjunctions and constructs for function
composition: Atop (@), At (@:), Compose (&), Appose (&:), Hook ((u v)),
Fork ((f g h)) (…actually it doesn't.)
A bit of history as to how it all arose.
why ("0), ("1), ("_) covers 99% of what you'll ever need.
Which to do first? That's hard to answer.
++ Whichever's the biggest use to an intermediate J-er
++ Whichever best exemplifies what we're trying to achieve
++ Whichever appeals most to you.
Ian
On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 at 01:42, 'robert therriault' via Programming <
[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Ian,
Thanks for the feedback and the topic list for future videos. Were you
thinking of a documentary style format, given the in depth topic idea?
Those sort of videos are usually done with a 30 to 1 ratio of footage to
raw footage to finished length, but if it is a topic that would not be
dated then that could certainly be worth doing. Let me know if you have
preferred topic to begin with.
Also I changed the sidebar to "J wiki search (new)" which should attract
attention for now, but we should come up with an alternative title for when
it is no longer a "new' search.
Cheers, bob
On Jul 27, 2022, at 06:48, Ian Clark <[email protected]> wrote:
I think those videos are really good, Bob. They deliver their payload
without cruft.
Been watching a lot of Veritasium recently. We need someone to do for J
what Veritasium does for modern physics. You may be the man for the job.
Yes, seriously. I don't mean just animating simple primitives, but videos
exploring significant (but under-appreciated) topics in-depth, with some
history and war-stories thrown in. Topics like:
++ Rank and Functional Composition
++ what can be achieved with tacit code
++ less-obvious uses of (:)
++ achieving an array of verbs with (`) (plus some useful boxed nouns)
++ hidden gems in stdlib (or which ought to be in stdlib)
++ the power of the new J wiki search over the old one
…etc, etc.
I'll happily offer a few librettos, in case it's not clear what can
fruitfully be emphasized.
On that last topic, I've labored under the misapprehension that J wiki
search, and Search J Wiki were synonymous. It's obvious in hindsight, but
whenever I've searched the wiki (always using the old one) I've had my
mind
too full of other things to give the matter much thought.
In case there are bigger idiots than me, could we please have some cue in
the left sidebar as to the difference -- and that there is a difference?
Something like:
J wiki search [Mk II]
J wiki search [new]
J wiki NuSearch
…well, maybe not the last.
On Wed, 27 Jul 2022 at 04:41, John Baker <[email protected]> wrote:
Looks great Bob I’m sold.
analyzethedatanotthedrivel.org
On Jul 26, 2022, at 7:39 PM, 'robert therriault' via Programming <
[email protected]> wrote:
Hi everyone,
One video on the recent changes that we have made to the wiki sidebar,
as well as a chance to see the upcoming potential changes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8aEdnduINk
The promo video that I made back in the spring with improved audio and
a
little tighter on the editing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxibe2QOA0s
Cheers, bob
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