Isn't the floor above the ground floor numbered "1" or "first" in Great Britain?
On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 9:00 AM, Leigh J. Halliwell <[email protected]>wrote: > Dear J Forum: > > Occassionally the zero index-origin trips me up; however, it's one of the > peculiarities of the language that I accept (like 0%0 = 0, rather than _.) > in order to use the power of J. I accepted it in APL, and I accept it in > J. > Besides, most of the time I replace elements in an array after an "i." > search, which handles the base consistently. So I think that J developers > will make better use of their time than to add an option for 0/1 indexing. > > Moreover, my degree was in pure mathematics. In set theory one begins with > the empty set as zero, and defines the next integer (n+1) as the union of n > and {n}. So the integer (n+1) is essentially the set of integers from zero > to n. In that regard, counting from zero is mathematically pleasing. > > That said, I'll never be so gung-ho about the custom as to start lists with > zero, as, for example, in the chapter numbering of Ken Iverson's Concrete > Math Companion -- although I might be tempted label a Forward or an > Introduction as Chapter 0). Zero developed in the late middle ages, after > 'first' was established as the leading item. I still bristle at using the > adjective 'zeroeth'. > > Sincerely, > > Leigh > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
