Hello Ric;
I guess all that I can say is that rank coloring wouldn't solve any
problems that $x doesn't. The existing syntax coloring already taxes my
cognitive powers, as it has done since color came to APL+PC.
Sherlock, Ric wrote:
---Randy MacDonald wrote:
(I'll leave the irony of non-programmers thinking they can
get a handle on a programming language aside.)
Surely programmers have to come from somewhere?!
How do they explain their confusion, if not as a sign they could use
some tools to look deeper?
I also am thinking that $x is too basic and too important a
concept that really shouldn't wait for spontaneous discovery.
'What is its shape?' seems like something an instructor would
use to cue students.
I'm sure any J/APL course would deal with the concept of shape/rank explicitly,
however that doesn't mean the student will immediately recognise from then on
when to expect a list vs a single row table. If display colour of an array in
the session could be configured based on its rank, I think that would be a nice
visual clue to remind the student (or even programmer!) that a result may not
be what they expected. I imagine it may well circumvent a good deal of
frustration at times.
As for "where does it end?", given that this would be user-configurable
(exactly as it is currently user-configurable to show verbs vs nouns vs adverbs in a
different colour), you can decide yourself where it ends.
Henry Rich wrote:
These are non-programmers who have no idea that they need
to dissect anything. Getting $x to occur to the average student
would be far too much to hope for.
Let the user specify as many colors as he cares to. As many
different ranks can be distinguished as her heart desires.
No way to tell the rank of an empty, but the rest is worth doing.
---Randy MacDonald wrote:
An interesting idea, but where does it end? Do we need to
immediately
see the difference between, for example, i. 2 2 and i. 1 1 1
2 2 which
both have the same display value. Is $x too much of a bother for
students who need to dissect a value? I sure hope not.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|\/| Randy A MacDonald | APL: If you can say it, it's done.. (ram)
|/\| ramacd <at> nbnet.nb.ca |
|\ | | The only real problem with APL is that
BSc(Math) UNBF'83 | it is "still ahead of its time."
Sapere Aude | - Morten Kromberg
Natural Born APL'er |
-----------------------------------------------------(INTP)----{ gnat }-
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
