[Jprogramming] Challenge 5 Super Bowl Supposition

[Dan Bron]

I asked:
>  Why should we avoid @ ?  

Linda responded:
> It encourages and fosters thinking 
> from applying functions from left to 
> right.

Raul followed-up:
>    *: -: 8
>    *:@-: 8
>  I am not seeing a big left-to-right vs. right-to-left difference, here.

I'm with Raul.  My sense is the aversion to @ is a holdover from APL; surely reading left-to-right and hitting a [: is no less disruptive than a @ .  In fact, given that [: is meaningless by design, and it also requires you understand verb train rules, which are not left-to-right, it is likely more disruptive to the experience.

I think I'll hang on to @ .  

Raul wrote:
>  have to understand rank before you can 
>  fully understand how @ works.

Yes, but you could always use @: to avoid the question.  In my view, a larger obstacle someone transitioning to @ from [: is the difference between e.g. [: *: +/ and *:@:+/  (which isn't a question of rank, but of precedence and associativity, which is related to Linda's concern).

-Dan