                                   Chapter 18

                                  DOCUMENTATION


      Intro to J
      Brief Reviews of New Iverson Books Wanted


*========================================
# Re: Intro to J

+------------------
| Roger Hui
| <1991May11.022835.8986@yrloc.ipsa.reuter.COM>


- Iverson, "J", Vector, 1990 7.
  Hui, Iverson, McDonnell, and Whitney, "APL\?", APL90 Conference Proc.

- McIntyre, "Mastering J", APL91 Conference Proc.

- Dictionary of J - $12 - A complete manual plus 52 brief tutorials that
  use J in a variety of topics (52 pp).

- An Introduction to J - $12 - Introduces J in a manner that makes it
  accessible to programmers, emphasizing those aspects that distiguish
  it from other programming languages (44 pp).

- Programming in J - $15 - A general introduction to programming as well
  as an introduction to programming in J (77 pp).

- Tangible Math - $12 - Uses the executable J notation to treat topics from
  elementary and high school math in a manner that introduces the use of
  vectors, matrices, and other concepts essential in college and more
  advanced mathematics (34 pp).

- Arithmetic - $18 - From the preface: "The thrust of the book might
  best be appreciated by comparing it with Felix Klein's _Elementary
  Mathematics from an Advanced Standpoint_.  However, I shun the
  corresponding title _Arithmetic from an Advanced Standpoint_ because
  it would incorrectly suggest that the treatment is intended only
  for mature mathematicians; on the contrary, the use of simple,
  consistent, executable notation makes it accessible to any serious
  student possessing little more than a knowledge of counting numbers."
  (122 pp).

Tutorials are in an appendix of the dictionary.  We no longer ship
an online version, but various bulletin boards and FTP sites may still
have them.



*========================================
# Brief Reviews of New Iverson Books Wanted

+------------------
| Keith Waclena
| <KEITH.91Dec2235912@curry.uchicago.edu>

I've just received the latest catalog from ISI and see that two new
books by Ken Iverson are available, *Programming in J* (80 pp) and
*Arithmetic* (120 pp).  They are $40 each.

Has anyone seen either of these books yet?  I'd appreciate hearing any
comment (on either production or content).  I'm thinking of buying
both of them, but being on a student's budget am balking at the $40
price tags for relatively short books.  Are these actual hard-bound
books, or inexpensively produced booklets?

I'm quite interested in the use of alternate APL/J notation for
mathematics, so I'm interested in *Arithmetic*, especially if it's
similar in approach to Iverson's old text on algebra.

While I'm on this topic, does anyone know of any other mathematics
texts that use APL?  (Our library only owns an elementary statistics
book which has unfortunately been stolen.)  A year or more ago I wrote
to an old address in an APL Quote Quad (for Sharp, I believe) that
offered a list of many APL textbooks but never received any reply.


+------------------
| Mark Keil
| <1991Dec3.220558.18381@apollo.hp.com>

In article <KEITH.91Dec2235912@curry.uchicago.edu> keith@curry.uchicago.edu
 (Keith Waclena) writes:
> I've just received the latest catalog from ISI and see that two new
> books by Ken Iverson are available, *Programming in J* (80 pp) and
> *Arithmetic* (120 pp).  They are $40 each.
>
  I havn't seen Arithmetic, so I can't comment on it.

  I do have Programming in J, and it is necessary but not sufficient (In my
  opinion) to learn J.

  I would also recommend that you get "A Dictionary of APL" (Quote Quad
  sept 87) and APL\? (APL90, ACM).  "A dictionary of APL" is similar to the
  Dictionary of J, but it is a little more verbose on some of the terms. The
  APL\? article talks about an older version of J and will also help you
  decipher J.
 