> > I haven't read the responses to this yet but I'm sure someone has explained > the difference. > > In short, @ is an assembly line, items being passed between workers one at a > time, and @: is a hopper, all items being passed between workers in a batch. > > Quick'n easy ruke of thumb: always use @: except when you specifically want > the behavior of @ . The former is a lot more common than the latter, and if > you follow this rule, those rare occasions for @ will really stand out.
I habitually use @ instead of @: because of inertia and its length is only half long as the other. From my experience, the case where @: is actually required is less than 50%. If the meaning the @ and @: were interchanged, I would still prefer using @ ;-) @: may be more efficient but it will be another subject. @Bo, FYI v v n is v@:v n so that using @: will usually cause less surprise. -- regards, ==================================================== GPG key 1024D/4434BAB3 2008-08-24 gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv-keys 4434BAB3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
