4 ms·

J - A modern, high-level, general-purpose, high-performance programming language

15 points by jayro 17y ago

stcredzero 17y ago
* an integrated development environment * standard libraries, utilities, and packages * a form designer for your application forms * an event-driven graphical user interface to your application * interfaces with other programming languages and applications * integrated 2d and 3d graphics * memory mapped files for high performance data applications This list doesn't strike me as particularly "modern" anymore. I know firsthand that there are environments from 10 years ago with lists like this, and the stuff wasn't new and hip even back then!
- gruseom 17y ago
  I don't have to tell a Smalltalker that not-new-and-hip is a poor metric to go by. The serious anachronism here is the lack of open-source. It's hard to see how any LFSP can get off the ground that way any more.
  - stcredzero 17y ago
    "not-new-and-hip" is always a poor metric for an environment. But it's relevant for PR that uses adjectives like "modern." (And this includes quite a bit of Smalltalk PR as well!)
    - gruseom 17y ago
      Oh, I see. You were responding to the M-word.
Zarathu 17y ago
I love using J when I'm solving Project Euler problems, but other than that, the language just isn't practical.
- omouse 17y ago
  Yes it is. It solves problem doesn't it? Maybe those problems don't frequently come up, but I'll be damned if it isn't practical for a niche set of problems. You may want to change your definition of "practical" so that's it broader than business applications.
omouse 17y ago
I wish they would call it a notation rather than a language. Language implies that you can read it like a sentence. We call symbols in math "notation" not language for a reason.
nmcfarl 17y ago
So my first question was "Why?", Then after some digging "Why not just use R?". The best answer I found to that question was on stack overflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1427276/j-programming-language-vs-r-programming-language-vs-incanter http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1427276/j-programming-lan... . Which for me said - "Just use R".
silentbicycle 17y ago
See also: "The World's Most Mind-Bending Language Has the Best Development Environment" (http://prog21.dadgum.com/48.html http://prog21.dadgum.com/48.html)
Tichy 17y ago
Appears to be closed source. Edit: stricly speaking it seems you can get a look at the source if you pay: "The price range is from $10,000 to $400,000. Regular updates to our current source levels are available for separate update fees." However, what I mean is there won't be a lively community of open source developers working on J. If the company crashes with that holiday jet, nobody will go on working on J. To me it is effectively the same as closed source.
forkandwait 17y ago
I wish J were used as an embedded language for solving mathematical problems within a larger, simpler to read language for input/output etc. Like the way we embed SQL within Python, or whatever.

15 points by jayro 17y ago

* an integrated development environment * standard libraries, utilities, and packages * a form designer for your application forms * an event-driven graphical user interface to your application * interfaces with other programming languages and applications * integrated 2d and 3d graphics * memory mapped files for high performance data applications This list doesn't strike me as particularly "modern" anymore. I know firsthand that there are environments from 10 years ago with lists like this, and the stuff wasn't new and hip even back then!

gruseom 17y ago
I don't have to tell a Smalltalker that not-new-and-hip is a poor metric to go by. The serious anachronism here is the lack of open-source. It's hard to see how any LFSP can get off the ground that way any more.
- stcredzero 17y ago
  "not-new-and-hip" is always a poor metric for an environment. But it's relevant for PR that uses adjectives like "modern." (And this includes quite a bit of Smalltalk PR as well!)
  - gruseom 17y ago
    Oh, I see. You were responding to the M-word.

Zarathu 17y ago

I love using J when I'm solving Project Euler problems, but other than that, the language just isn't practical.

omouse 17y ago
Yes it is. It solves problem doesn't it? Maybe those problems don't frequently come up, but I'll be damned if it isn't practical for a niche set of problems. You may want to change your definition of "practical" so that's it broader than business applications.

omouse 17y ago

I wish they would call it a notation rather than a language. Language implies that you can read it like a sentence. We call symbols in math "notation" not language for a reason.

nmcfarl 17y ago

So my first question was "Why?", Then after some digging "Why not just use R?". The best answer I found to that question was on stack overflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1427276/j-programming-language-vs-r-programming-language-vs-incanter http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1427276/j-programming-lan... . Which for me said - "Just use R".

silentbicycle 17y ago

See also: "The World's Most Mind-Bending Language Has the Best Development Environment" (http://prog21.dadgum.com/48.html http://prog21.dadgum.com/48.html)

Tichy 17y ago

Appears to be closed source. Edit: stricly speaking it seems you can get a look at the source if you pay: "The price range is from $10,000 to $400,000. Regular updates to our current source levels are available for separate update fees." However, what I mean is there won't be a lively community of open source developers working on J. If the company crashes with that holiday jet, nobody will go on working on J. To me it is effectively the same as closed source.

forkandwait 17y ago

I wish J were used as an embedded language for solving mathematical problems within a larger, simpler to read language for input/output etc. Like the way we embed SQL within Python, or whatever.