The problem I see in finding such a word is that it not only has to convey the power of implicit looping and tacit code, but is has to convey the simplicity of J. J's interpreted nature and minimally designed primitives make it much easier to use than other systems with fancier design. Frankly, I'm not sure the English language has enough power to express that in one word.
Marshall -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ric Sherlock Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 8:55 PM To: Programming forum Subject: Re: [Jprogramming] One word description of J Yes certainly in Australasia calling something/someone "feral" is not exactly a compliment! http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-of/feral On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 12:14 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > I think that the word "feral" has negative and destructive > connotations. Not a word to use if you want to promote the use of J > to a manager. > > Surely we need a word that indicates incredible usefulness or > competence. How about "dextrous" or "omnidextrous". > > Simon > > > Quoting John Baker <[email protected]>: > >> I've been thinking about what's a good single word description of J. >> Something that suggests the important features of the language and >> conveys the spirit of J programming. I offer the word: feral. >> Here's a footnote I recently added to the upcoming JOD 0.9.3 documentation. >> >> Coming up with an accurate description of J is a challenge. The >> language is definitely array oriented and contains an almost pure >> functional tacit sub-language. However J also contains substantial >> imperative features and its clever use of locales and locale paths >> simulates most of the useful features of object oriented languages. >> Waving your hands and declaring a language multi-paradigm or agile is >> the standard way out but unfortunately this does not distinguish J. I think J is a *feral* programming language. >> The word feral sounds like a mixture of functional and imperative and >> the established meaning of feral: almost wild, wilily, able to >> survive on your own but willing to cooperate on your own terms - >> conveys the independent free thinking character of J programmers. >> >> >> >> -- >> John D. Baker >> [email protected] >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> - 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
