NYCJUG/2010-07-13

Good and bad tutorial examples, backgammon in J, mutex implementation, mutual exclusion using file-locking, algorithm publication, argument for executable algorithmic notation, Tabula for scientific calculations in various units, threads in J, Easter date calculation, parallel programming

Agenda for NYCJUG 20100713

1. Beginner's regatta: some different examples of tutorials - see "Backgammon
tools in J.pdf" and "Java Tutorial-Bad - Javascript Tutorial-Good.pdf".


2. Show-and-tell: A J implementation of "mutex" - see
"MutexInJUsingFileLocking.pdf".


3. Advanced topics: how might algorithms be better expressed in publication - see
"NotationForAnAlgorithm.pdf"?

Ian Clark's "Tabula": introduction and an example - see
"Tabula-BeyondScientificCalculator.pdf".

Threads in J?  See Oleg's "JThreads.pdf".


4. Learning, teaching and promoting J, et al.: Would something like
this paper by Polivka motivate a beginner to learn APL (or J) - see "Ten
divisions to Easter by Ray Polivka.pdf"?  Also, a parallel-programming
conference - see "OSCONTalks-Plumbing-Parallel Programming for Artists
and Makers.pdf"

Meeting Materials

• File:Backgammon tools in J.pdf - from Vector.
• File:Java Tutorial-Bad - Javascript Tutorial-Good.pdf The source for the bad one is here and the good one is here.
• File:MutexInJUsingFileLocking.pdf This project can be found here.
• File:NotationForAnAlgorithm.pdf - with attention to the peculiar "conventional" notation for showing replication by using a superscript.
• File:Tabula-BeyondScientificCalculator.pdf - with an example about how to figure the energy requirements for launching an elephant into orbit. See the source for this.
• File:JThreads.pdf - see the source page here.
• File:Ten divisions to Easter by Ray Polivka.pdf - from Vector.
• File:OSCONTalks-Plumbing-Parallel Programming for Artists and Makers.pdf The conference this year in Portland, Oregon on July 19-22. This talk, titled "Another Go at Language Design" by Rob Pike, looks interesting.