Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl
Path: watmath!watserv1!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!apollo!keil
From: keil@apollo.hp.com (Mark Keil)
Subject: More j questions
Lines: 27
Message-ID: <1991Oct1.050328.28234@apollo.hp.com>
Summary: More J questions
Keywords: j why language
Sender: netnews@apollo.hp.com (USENET posting account)
Nntp-Posting-Host: thor.ch.apollo.hp.com
Organization: folded rank 4 aggregate
Date: Tue, 1 Oct 1991 05:03:28 GMT


Why j? why not g or s as the name of the language?
Are all the previous letters taken for other languages,
or does it have some mystic significance?

Is j polymorphic? Does it allow operator overloading?
(yes, I know that one can create new verbs, though I
don't yet understand the details)

What is the value of having the =: copula create an uneraseable name?
What does "global" really mean for =: ?

In the dictionary, its hard to tell what a "." at the end of a sentence
means. Is it really the end of a sentence, or is the "." attached to
the character ahead of it as part of a verb or noun or whatever.
In u/. [oblique] , that section ends with ",.y." . does one read this
as ,.y period, or as ,.y. [implicit end of sentence] ?

Why do 0: and 1: have ranks of (_ _ _) [or is it (_ __)] ?

I take it that only 0 origin indexing is allowed in j. Is this true?

Thanks,
-- 
 Mark Keil               HP/Apollo Computer,  Chelmsford MA 01824
 +1 508-256-6600 x2495   keil@apollo.hp.com  /  {decvax,mit-erl,yale}!apollo!keil

