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| author | Marshall Lochbaum <mwlochbaum@gmail.com> | 2020-10-29 13:33:57 -0400 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Marshall Lochbaum <mwlochbaum@gmail.com> | 2020-10-29 13:46:48 -0400 |
| commit | 21e36e287bb4cb4618a69f10923de52986b1e141 (patch) | |
| tree | e7f1415e1737066818975be744f112400c6a7086 /docs | |
| parent | d473082ff2e94270b4bfc1d286dba7c4f99793f1 (diff) | |
Little paragraph on BQNcrate
Diffstat (limited to 'docs')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/index.html | 3 |
1 files changed, 2 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/docs/index.html b/docs/index.html index a07166b1..df8ec593 100644 --- a/docs/index.html +++ b/docs/index.html @@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ <p>I type the special characters using a backslash escape, so that, for example, typing <code><span class='Value'>\</span></code> then <code><span class='Value'>z</span></code> writes <code><span class='Function'>⥊</span></code> (the backslash character itself is not used by BQN). The online REPL supports this method out of the box, and this repository also has <a href="https://github.com/mlochbaum/BQN/tree/master/editors">scripts</a> to support it, along with the standard syntax highlighting and indentation, in Vim and <a href="https://kakoune.org/">Kakoune</a>. When starting out, it may be easier to use the bar above the REPL: hover over a character to see a short description, and click to insert it into the editor. Finally, on Linux <a href="https://github.com/mlochbaum/BQN/blob/master/editors/bqn">this configuration file</a> for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_keyboard_extension">XKB</a> can be used to allow typing glyphs with a modifier key system-wide.</p> <p>Few existing monospace fonts support all the BQN characters (double-struck letters like <code><span class='Value'>𝕩</span></code> are a particular sticking point), which can cause these characters to be rendered with a fallback font and have the wrong width or look inconsistent. Two fonts modified to support BQN are available currently. This site uses a <a href="https://github.com/mlochbaum/BQN/blob/master/docs/DejaVuBQNSansMono.ttf">modified DejaVu Sans Mono</a>, and another, more playful option is <a href="https://github.com/dzaima/BQN386">BQN386</a> (<a href="https://dzaima.github.io/BQN386/">demo</a>). Existing font <a href="http://www.kreativekorp.com/software/fonts/fairfaxhd.shtml">Fairfax HD</a> has excellent BQN support, but be careful not to confuse single quote (<code><span class='String'>'</span></code>) with the smaller acute accent (<code><span class='Modifier'>´</span></code>). <a href="https://github.com/cormullion/juliamono">Julia Mono</a> also supports all BQN characters, but with varying styles and weights.</p> <h2 id="how-do-i-get-started">How do I get started?</h2> -<p><em>Writing good learning material for a programming language is a pretty huge task, so neither the tutorials not the documentation are complete. With some willingness to experiment and possibly outside knowledge of array programming, it's enough to get by, just not smooth sailing.</em></p> +<p><em>Writing good learning material for a programming language is a pretty huge task, so neither the tutorials nor the documentation are complete. With some willingness to experiment and possibly outside knowledge of array programming, it's enough to get by, just not smooth sailing.</em></p> <p>BQN's <a href="tutorial/index.html"><strong>tutorials</strong></a> are intended as an introduction to array programming with BQN. They assume only knowledge of elementary mathematics, but will probably be hard to follow if you have <em>no</em> programming experience. BQN has a lot in common with dynamically-typed functional languages like Lisp, Julia, or Javascript, so knowledge of these languages will be particularly helpful. However, there's a significant (but shrinking) gap between the last tutorial and existing documentation. If you're motivated, you may be able to get across by reading material on other array languages like APL, J, NumPy, or Julia.</p> <p>If you're already an array programmer, then you're in better shape: the current <a href="doc/index.html"><strong>documentation</strong></a> covers nearly all differences from APL, and the BQN-Dyalog APL <a href="doc/fromDyalog.html">dictionary</a> might also be a useful resource. However, you should be aware of two key differences between BQN and existing array languages beyond just the changes of <a href="doc/primitive.html">primitives</a>—if these differences don't seem important to you then you don't understand them! BQN's <a href="doc/based.html">based array model</a> is different from both a flat array model like J and a nested one like APL2, Dyalog, or GNU APL in that it has true non-array values (plain numbers and characters) that are different from depth-0 scalars. BQN also uses <a href="doc/context.html">syntactic roles</a> rather than dynamic type to determine how values interact, that is, what's an argument or operand and so on. This system, along with lexical closures, means BQN fully supports Lisp-style <a href="doc/functional.html">functional programming</a>.</p> +<p>A useful tool for both beginners and experienced users is <a href="https://mlochbaum.github.io/bqncrate/"><strong>BQNcrate</strong></a>, a searchable collection of BQN snippets to solve particular tasks. If you have a question about how you might approach a problem, give it a try by typing in a relevant keyword or two.</p> |
