It is better to think of "." and ":" as " ." and " :" respectively, and that the interpreter is sometimes liberal (forgives you when you forget the leading space in certain circumstances).
The DoJ explictly says that space is considered a graphic or grapheme for the purposes of spelling, and in the overwhelming number of cases in real J programming, the leading space is required. Or we can drop the "inflexion" nomenclature and accord . full status as a letter, and consequently treat. . alone like a (single-lettered) word, just like + . But then how can I say ++ is 2 words, but .. is 1? Or that +. Is 1 word but .+ is 2? Maybe . and : don't fit cleanly into any category. Are there any languages where a diacritic mostly inflects a ketter, but sometimes is a letter unto itself? If so, is there a (n English) linguistic term for such beasts? -Dan Please excuse typos; composed on a handheld device. -----Original Message----- From: Oleg Kobchenko <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:13:24 To: Programming forum<[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Jprogramming] The role of the . in J words I concur, a *trailing* combination of "." and ":" are part of the Token: &. &: &.: for. for_varname. etc In the leading position they play a role of a regular symbol (such as + - etc). > From: Markus Schmidt-Gröttrup <[email protected]> > > The dictionary shows how the fullstop character (.) is used under > Spelling. So B is the answer. > > Markus > > > > Sherlock, Ric schrieb: > > I am working with the maintainer of GeSHi (syntax highlighter used on > > Rosetta > Code) to improve support for J. > > > > As part of that process I'm seeking clarification of the role of the > > fullstop > character (.) as it appears in J words, eg: (do.) (for.) (p.) (p..) (*.) (.) > (.:) (..) > > > > Is the fullstop > > A) a symbol to control language flow, > > B) an integral part of the word, > > C) some other better description? > > > > Or slightly differently: > > Is the fullstop > > A) syntax/punctuation, > > B) spelling, > > C) sometimes one, sometimes the other? > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > > > > -- > > Prof. Dr. M. Schmidt-Gröttrup > Hochschule Ulm, > Fakultät Grundlagen > Prittwitzstr. 10, 89075 Ulm > E-Mail: [email protected] > Tel: +49 (0) 731 50 28036 > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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
