Re: [stack] Advantages of cat, joy ..?

productivity is a very complicated business, depending on factors
ranging from the language to the personality chemistry of the programming
team to the politics of the origanization.  as far as language is concerned, 
i've always imagined it to consist of the *distance* (in some metaphorical
sense) from the thought to the code.  

can the programmer, literate in X, easily read off the meaning of the
code, discern the algorithm in the text?  does X help or hinder the search
for new algorithms?  does the implementation assist or obstruct?  &c.  these
questions alone are complicated enough to resist off-the-cuff judgements.
i think they take years to answer for any language, and what is required is
an *actual large-scale project* under real-world conditions.

(since i'm an old APLer, i'll cite the criticism of my colleague from morgan
stanley, richard brookheiser, that APL was *too productive* (_a demon of our
own design_))


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "chris glur" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 4:44 PM
Subject: Re: [stack] Advantages of cat, joy ..?


> >you can express the distributivity of
>>multiplication nicely without the need for infix operators:
> 
> Which via A -> B -> C leads to increased productivety,
> either via faster initial building, or easier maintenance or increased
> reliability.
> 
> What are the [assumed ?] A,B,C.
> 
> I feel like a child trying to find out where babies
> come from, who's being given the run-around.
> 
> ===re. unsubscribing critics:-
> Admitting that it's just fun, mentally stimulating
> or might lead somewhere is completely legitimate.
> Apparently origami has many followers too ?
> 
> Muzzeling criticism is ....well ...gun-slinging ?
> 
> == Chris Glur.
> 
> 
> On 2/16/09, Christopher Diggins <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 8:17 AM, chris glur <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> Since I started reading this mail-list all I've got is:
>>>
>>> 'look ma I can wear my cap backwards;
>>> and you can turn it inside out;
>>> and if you turn it to the right and march north,
>>> it points in the direction, where the sun rises,
>>> which will tell you approximately where the sun sets'.
>>> So what ?
>>> What the point of it all ?!
>>
>> No point at all. Now unsubscribe and leave us alone.
>> William, can you do something about this guy?
>>
>> - Christopher Diggins
>>
>