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All of that syntax is awful. Why not just x.sortBy(y) ? Did all of the advances in software legibility fail to make their way to the modern scientific computing
by legalcorrection 5y ago
All of that syntax is awful. Why not just x.sortBy(y) ? Did all of the advances in software legibility fail to make their way to the modern scientific computing world?
- moonchild 5y agohttps://www.jsoftware.com/papers/tot.htm https://www.jsoftware.com/papers/tot.htm
- avmich 5y agoHyperbolically, because you don't write math with variables in camel case. J traces its roots from a notation for math, used on whiteboards. That awful syntax you see - it's the same as in some formulas in, say, general relativity, only J is Turing complete and not a Turing tarpit. When you work on a formula, in case of J you have ability to execute it, and if you see it's wrong you can update the formula and try again. This could also be done in other languages, but in J (I mean, APL family of languages) it's more focused. In defense of J, I had a professional example of a problem which wasn't clearly specified, which needed some experimentation - that took, if I remember correctly, some 45 minutes of attempts in J, and then the prototype was re-written in C#, when if was already producing desired outcomes. Rewriting took somewhat longer.