There are aliases built-in and you can define your own. Drop is built-in. To borrow an example above:
1 drop 1 2 3 4 5 NB. this is how to comment
2 3 4 5 NB. drop is }. in J
Exactly how did it 'flop'? Popularity, or your understanding of it?
Math symbols are cryptic, and Math is not popular, but I would not want to write:
"The derivative of x with respect to t" everytime instead of, dx/dt everytime I needed to write a formula.
I am sure beginners find 'for' ambiguous unless they have experience with programming as in 'for i = 1 to 10'. It's syntax you are highlighting, not meaning. People extoll the brevity of Haskell, and other functional languages, because they take the time to understand its syntax. J has been around a lot longer, and was created by some very smart people. I didn't choose it for its job market or popularity, but to expand my mind, and further my mathematics studies.
Math symbols are cryptic, and Math is not popular, but I would not want to write:
"The derivative of x with respect to t" everytime instead of, dx/dt everytime I needed to write a formula.
I am sure beginners find 'for' ambiguous unless they have experience with programming as in 'for i = 1 to 10'. It's syntax you are highlighting, not meaning. People extoll the brevity of Haskell, and other functional languages, because they take the time to understand its syntax. J has been around a lot longer, and was created by some very smart people. I didn't choose it for its job market or popularity, but to expand my mind, and further my mathematics studies.