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> I've been fascinated by this style ever since I saw the "J Incunabulum." Unfortunately, it seems to come from idol worship. Is that true? Isn't this style j
by ParetoOptimal 4y ago
> I've been fascinated by this style ever since I saw the "J Incunabulum." Unfortunately, it seems to come from idol worship.
Is that true?
Isn't this style just a natural place to arrive after agreeing with and understanding "Notation as a tool of thought"?
Also while learning J/K I didn't notice much of this worship.
I'm afraid of writing off a purposely chosen style as one that has no merits and is explained by idol worship.
- regularhuman 4y agoArriving to your comment late; I apologize. I want to be clear that I think this style does indeed have merit, regardless of its origins. I like it--I prefer _reading_ and _comprehending_ code rather than superficially skimming code--I believe the style serves that goal wonderfully. I do not think that a thing adopted because of one's respect and adoration for an idol figure invalidates the value of the thing, _but_ I also think I spoke much too harshly and I recognize that people are allowed to like a thing and take it from another person without idolizing the creator. However, I still believe the style originated with Arthur. Again, I don't think that's bad, and I agree with you that there is indeed some spirit of Iverson's work spread around different computing communities in the way they write C. Then again, _I_ did not have the presence of mind to spontaneously write Arthurian C without reading his code first and thinking really hard about it, so I am perhaps making the mistake that everyone else is similarly limited. I've tried to find independent exemplars of similar styles without success. Again, I write that down as a personal failing.