GerryLowry1(905)825-9582{AbilityBusinessComputerServices} wrote:
Paul, no, I have not tried NumPy (Numerical Extensions To Python).
The only Python (yet to be read) book that I own is Andre Lessa's "Python Developer's Handbook", 2001, SAMS.
Lessa mentions briefly (p. 15, last paragraph) NumPy and again later (pp. 364-367). Lessa shows not a line of NumPy on those pages, although he gives URL's. Lessa fails to mention the connection to J, perhaps for fear of frightening us away.
I don't know the book, but it doesn't sound very oriented toward education. But I would say that there seems to be a strange consensus of irreconcilable positions in books that *are* educationally oriented - especially in those oriented toward younger people - that computer graphics are a good and primary way to introduce things, and that the mathematics is frightening and should be avoided. One thing, I think, to appreciate about J is that it would have no part of this. I have a J book which fully appreciates the fun and motivating force of creating graphics, mathematically. With the "mathematically" being to the essence. But I have personally found that there is in the Python world actually a more complete set of tools to use to explore this "space" of the connection between mathematics and graphics (we can call it "art" if we want) than is true in the J world. The Numeric /Numpy line central to almost all of them. In my little POV-ray story, I need to be able to take the 1 unit square polygon on the XY plane and orient it precisely to some distinct (but arbitrary) position in 3d space. There are no buttons to push to do so. Except for the matrix "button". Nobody could stop me from finding that button. To someone like myself, the connection between the art and the mathematics is the more interesting and educational part of the story - the computing language syntax, the less. Art Art
Calling Java::Python "JPython" further dooms J to anonymity. I.e., it leads one to think of "J" as implying Java. Likewise, the Evil Empire's J++ and J# products.
Kirby is correct about the ability to write really weird looking code in J. (I assume that is what is meant by "J is maybe the most weird language I know").
Paul, thank you ... NumPy is now on my list of future investigations.
regards, gerry "If your only tool is a hammer, all of your problems tend to look like nails". (author unknown)
From: "Paul Barrett" <pebarrett@gmail.com> Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 12:18 PM Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks
The multidimensional array modules in their various incarnations, Numeric, Numarray and Numpy - with the Numpy being the latest and hopeful last - are based on J's array semantics and behaviour. So in some sense, you can teach J programming concepts by using Numpy.
Have you you tried Numpy?
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