Agreed. Henry Rich
On 3/19/2012 9:05 AM, Dan Bron wrote: > Though not my usual position on J development, I'd support decommissioning 13 > : . > > I see its function as more appropriate to a standard library than a > primitive. For one thing, libraries are easier to change than primitives, > and therefore more amenable to user feedback. > > For another, I see 13 : 's role as primarily pedagogical, and the script > could include additional teaching material that a primitive cannot. Also, I > think using a script would discourage inappropriate (ab)use of the > transformation, like blindly trusting it, or believing it has a role outside > of learning how to write tacit verbs. > > -Dan > > PS: A note on usage; if we want an adverb to convert a (quoted) noun phrase > to a tacit verb, then we only need to say 13 : . There is no need for > curry, as in 13& : , and in fact that phrase is a grammatical (syntax) > error. Currying is only needed to bind a noun to a verb. Conjunctions like > : have binding power already (in fact, that's why& is a conjunction). > > > -----Original Message----- > From: programming-boun...@jsoftware.com > [mailto:programming-boun...@jsoftware.com] On Behalf Of Devon McCormick > Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2012 2:07 PM > To: Programming forum > Subject: Re: [Jprogramming] why=: 13 :'y*y*y' > > It's not a good advertisement for J when something so simple is so > clearly wrong. I would certainly rank fixing an obvious bug over, > say, a performance improvement in a little-used feature like look-up > of symbolic names. > > On Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 1:26 PM, Tracy Harms<kalei...@gmail.com> wrote: >> To clarify, I do think 13&: could be improved. I think your examples can >> help with that. I don't find flaws in this modifier very interesting among >> possible improvement efforts. >> On Mar 17, 2012 3:45 AM, "Linda Alvord"<lindaalv...@verizon.net> wrote: >> >>> David Ward Lambert pointed out the known pitfall that occurs using : 13 : >>> >>> >>> >>> Would these examples help in correcting the problem? >>> >>> >>> >>> why=: 13 :'y+y' NB. wrong >>> >>> why >>> >>> + >>> >>> why 3 >>> >>> 3 >>> >>> why=: 13 :'y-y' NB. right >>> >>> why >>> >>> -~ >>> >>> why 3 >>> >>> 0 >>> >>> why=: 13 :'y*y' NB. wrong >>> >>> why >>> >>> * >>> >>> why 3 >>> >>> 1 >>> >>> why=: 13 :'y%y' NB. right >>> >>> why >>> >>> %~ >>> >>> why 3 >>> >>> 1 >>> >>> why=: 13 :'y+y+y' NB. wrong >>> >>> why >>> >>> ] + + >>> >>> why 3 >>> >>> 6 >>> >>> why=: 13 :'y-y-y' NB. right >>> >>> why >>> >>> ] - -~ >>> >>> why 3 >>> >>> 3 >>> >>> why=: 13 :'y*y*y' NB. wrong >>> >>> why >>> >>> ] * * >>> >>> why 3 >>> >>> 3 >>> >>> why=: 13 :'y%y%y' NB. right >>> >>> why >>> >>> ] % %~ >>> >>> why 3 >>> >>> 3 >>> >>> >>> >>> Linda >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> 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
