Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!emory!gatech!purdue!haven!ni.umd.edu!uc780.umd.edu!cs450a03 From: cs450a03@uc780.umd.edu Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl Subject: RE: WANTED: a way to sort array so each column i Message-ID: <19APR91.21375678@uc780.umd.edu> Date: 19 Apr 91 21:37:56 GMT References: <31931@usc> <13APR91.22583472@uc780.umd.edu> <14APR91.18400456@uc780.umd.edu> <1991Apr17.151913.4891@csrd.uiuc.edu> <1991Apr19.145007.2201@csrd.uiuc.ed Sender: usenet@ni.umd.edu (USENET News System) Organization: The University of Maryland University College Lines: 22 Greg Jaxon writes: >To turn the philosophy discussion around, what do you think about >doing the split and mix steps up in the user-accessible data domain? >I kind of like seeing those intermediate data organizations, it gives >me a handle on what I need to do next. I don't think that is much of an issue at all. What I find most annoying about split is that it always forces me to deal with vectors. >In dictionary APL (and I think in J), more of this work is done >silently inside the rank operator, where I'll grant you it can be a >lot more efficient; but much more obscure! Obscure is in the mind of the beholder ;-) Personally, I find the J forms _easier_ to remember, because they have (to me) more of an internal consistency. Also, you can do real well visualising J operators by using innocuous functions like < or ] to see what's happening structurally. Raul Rockwell