"Dan Bron" <[email protected]> writes: > Reflecting on that (the set of questions I would ask), it occurs to me that > the word we're seeking is right under our nose: The J Manual. "Look that > up in the manual" seems just about right.
Or RTJM. But I don't mean that seriously. > So now we're at the fuzzy border between form and content [2], and we must > consider how to cross it. We actually get a lot of complaints regarding the > presentation of J as a (human) language; is this the time to abandon (or > tune down, or twist) that analogy? The question again hinges on our > intended audience. Pragmatically speaking, most newcomers to our language > will come from other (though perhaps exotic) programming languages, not as > the tabula rasa the current DoJ targets. So shall we target that pragmatic > audience, and write our manual as other manuals are written [3]? > > Or does that lose the value of a differentiated language in the first place? > Would abandoning the human-language analogy be to lose one of our tools of > thought? I don't know (and I would be personally sorry to lose the > analogy), but I thought I'd raise the question. Do we get that many complaints? Is it simply because J is a new way of thinking? I think we would lose something significant by abandoning the language idea. I notice that I came to APL as a notation for thinking (computer hardware design) and essentially never programmed with it (I did get a TRYAPL2 [or was it I-APL?] interpreter years later, which I probably used 1-3 times), and I found APL quite handy that way. It's only now that I'm beginning to use J as a notation of thought, and I sense I've been missing something. I really like JfC, but it veers into the J as programming language approach, so I think we may have that covered (thanks, Henry!). If the terms hadn't already been used, what about Primer and Phrase Book (you did suggest that)? You see both with natural languages, the latter especially for tourists. There's also "Manual of Style" (as in "Chicago Manual of Style) and "Encyclopedia" (following in the footsteps of the APL Encyclopedia). Didn't someone (Compton's?) used to publish a shortened encyclopedia? What did they call it? Bill PS: OT, but have you seen http://www.reportlab.com/solutions/casestudy/wikipedia/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Book&bookcmd=book_creator&referer=Main+Page? -- Bill Harris http://facilitatedsystems.com/weblog/ Facilitated Systems Everett, WA 98208 USA http://facilitatedsystems.com/ phone: +1 425 374-1845 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
