Randy wrote: "As far as the 'why convert to and from strings?' question goes, the 'first digit of a number' concept _requires_ seeing numbers as strings."
That does not fit my understanding. It requires seeing numbers by way of numerals, and it requires seeing those numerals as comprised of digits, but it seems to me that "string" is a different sort of abstraction. A "string" seems to me to suggest concerns that have to do with considering the characters without including any numeric qualities. The two concepts are similar, but I think I see enough difference to be happier with treating them as digits (naturally manipulated with #. and #:) -- Tracy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
