Editorial

Transcribed from the printed issue; not yet reviewed. Read it in the PDF of the issue, page 3

As this issue's correspondence section shows, the old APL vs. J argument has raised its head again. Don Mattern's letter in the last issue has prompted a number of responses. It is seen by some that Vector is dominated by J and that there is little of interest for APLers. As Norman Thomson's response points out, the quantity of J is less than that of APL and indeed has not changed considerably in the last four or five years. What could account for this unfavourable impression however is the number of regular "columns" that are about J. This is due to the fact that a small number of J users are willing to give freely of their time each quarter to produce regular articles of high quality. Norman Thomson and Eugene McDonnell are the prime examples, having contributed for many years. Some of Norman's articles moreover are of benefit to APLers as he often demonstrates how the application of J ways of thinking can enrich our APL.

What is perhaps not clear is that the presence of these articles is not driving out APL articles that would otherwise appear. Most of the other J articles that appear are unsolicited whereas in order to achieve something of a balance we in the Vector Working Group must go out and ask APL authors to contribute. If we take as an indication of the relative interest in the two languages their submission rates to comp.lang.apl, then it would appear that Vector devotes a disproportionate amount of space to APL. This would not however be a fair measure to use as J is considerably easier to submit to an internet newsgroup. Still it gives an indication of the willingness of J users to talk and write about what they are doing.

In general any article that we believe would be of interest to a broad range of members of the association will be included. If the article is about the use of APL or J to solve an abstruse technical problem then, in order that the article be accessible to the majority of readers, an introduction explaining the background of the problem and its importance should precede the technical content. Articles about the recreational use of APL and J are welcomed. Apart from the simple benefit of enjoying ourselves, quite often the techniques used can be adapted by others to solve serious problems. Many of the vendors of APL systems provide articles which both interest and illuminate us. However in fairness to the association's sustaining members, many of whom are also APL vendors, blatant plugging of products should be kept for paid advertisements. Articles will also be welcome that are about neither APL nor J but that demonstrate techniques or approaches that would be of interest to us.

In summary we will continue to welcome (and solicit) material from both communities and try to achieve a balance that is acceptable to the members of the association. If in your opinion we are failing to do that then write or email to tell us and we will take your opinions into account in planning future issues.