[Jprogramming] The role of the . in J words

[Dan Bron]

It is better to think of "." and ":" as " ." and " :" respectively, and that the interpreter is sometimes liberal (forgives you when you forget the leading space in certain circumstances).

The DoJ explictly says that space is considered a graphic or grapheme for the purposes of spelling, and in the overwhelming number of cases in real J programming, the leading 
space is required.

Or we can drop the "inflexion" nomenclature and accord  .  full status as a letter, and consequently treat. .  alone like a (single-lettered) word, just like +  .  
But then how can I say  ++  is 2 words, but  ..  is 1?   Or that +. Is 1 word but .+ is 2? 

Maybe  .  and  :  don't fit cleanly into any category.  Are there any languages where a diacritic mostly inflects a ketter, but sometimes is a letter unto itself?  If so, is there a (n English) linguistic term for such beasts?

-Dan



Please excuse typos; composed on a handheld device.

-----Original Message-----
From: Oleg Kobchenko <olegykj at yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:13:24 
To: Programming forum<programming at jsoftware.com>
Subject: Re: [Jprogramming] The role of the . in J words

I concur, a *trailing* combination of "." and ":" are part of the Token:

  &.   &:   &.:   for.   for_varname.     etc

In the leading position they play a role of a regular symbol (such as + - etc).




> From: Markus Schmidt-Gröttrup <schmidt-groettrup at hs-ulm.de>
> 
> The dictionary shows how the fullstop character (.) is used under 
> Spelling. So B is the answer.
> 
> Markus
> 
> 
> 
> Sherlock, Ric schrieb:
> > I am working with the maintainer of GeSHi (syntax highlighter used on Rosetta 
> Code) to improve support for J.
> >
> > As part of that process I'm seeking clarification of the role of the fullstop 
> character (.) as it appears in J words, eg:  (do.) (for.) (p.) (p..) (*.) (.) 
> (.:) (..)
> >
> > Is the fullstop 
> >  A) a symbol to control language flow,
> >  B) an integral part of the word,
> >  C) some other better description?
> >
> > Or slightly differently:
> > Is the fullstop
> >   A) syntax/punctuation,
> >   B) spelling,
> >   C) sometimes one, sometimes the other?
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
> >
> >  
> 
> -- 
> 
> Prof. Dr. M. Schmidt-Gröttrup
> Hochschule Ulm,
> Fakultät Grundlagen
> Prittwitzstr. 10, 89075 Ulm
> E-Mail: schmidt-groettrup at hs-ulm.de
> Tel:   +49 (0) 731 50 28036
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm



      
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