[Jprogramming] One word description of J

[Devon McCormick]

Assembler is stick, C is a pointy stick, Java is a sharpened rock but J is a
scalpel.

On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 9:46 PM, Henry Rich <HenryHRich at nc.rr.com> wrote:

> "Feral" means "having reverted to a wild state".  Assembler language is
> feral.  Writing loops is feral.  Swinging a club is feral.  J is a
> lightsaber.
>
> Henry Rich
>
> On 6/7/2011 9:39 PM, Joey K Tuttle wrote:
> > I like feral... Certainly if you say, "j is a feral computer language."
> They are almost certain to ask what you mean. Some of us can relate to the
> implications of "feral" - it does invade one's mind...
> >
> >
> > - joey    iPh
> >
> >
> >
> > On Jun 7, 2011, at 18:23, Henry Rich<HenryHRich at nc.rr.com>  wrote:
> >
> >> I agree.
> >>
> >> It's hard to express in a paragraph how it is that the parts of J work
> >> together, and how, by letting you think about problems rather than
> >> implementation, it makes you a better, faster, more elegant programmer.
> >>   A single word is more likely to be misleading than descriptive.
> >>
> >> Henry Rich
> >>
> >> On 6/7/2011 9:16 PM, Marshall Lochbaum wrote:
> >>> 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: programming-bounces at jsoftware.com
> >>> [mailto:programming-bounces at jsoftware.com] 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,<simon at superware.com.au>   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<bakerjd99 at gmail.com>:
> >>>>
> >>>>> 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
> >>>>> bakerjd99 at gmail.com
> >>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>>> - 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
> >>>
> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> 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
>



-- 
Devon McCormick, CFA
^me^ at acm.
org is my
preferred e-mail