From c1ec8006fd1a637e7a647f06460d23c2b3e8e12b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Marshall Lochbaum Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2021 16:33:10 -0400 Subject: Add standalone forums page --- docs/index.html | 30 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) (limited to 'docs/index.html') diff --git a/docs/index.html b/docs/index.html index b5ffce3d..458d4aa4 100644 --- a/docs/index.html +++ b/docs/index.html @@ -63,9 +63,33 @@

If you're already an array programmer, you might start with the documentation right away, using the BQN-Dyalog APL or BQN-J dictionary as a quick reference where appropriate. Be aware of two key differences between BQN and existing array languages beyond just the changes of primitives—if these differences don't seem important to you then you don't understand them! BQN's based array model 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 syntactic roles 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 functional programming.

A useful tool for both beginners and experienced users is BQNcrate, 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.

Where can I find BQN users?

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There's a BQN Matrix channel at #bqn:matrix.org, which you can see in the Element web client with this link, and one on Discord that you can join with this invite. The two channels are bridged so that comments in one appear in both. The Discord server has other array programming channels as well, with the corresponding Matrix channels gathered in this space (link uses Element's spaces beta). BQN and the other channels are very active: you wouldn't believe how many people are here to discuss arrays all day!

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BQNBot will run your code from chat! Begin your message with bqn) and our friend (designation B-QN) will evaluate the rest and show the output. While putting your code in blocks `like this` is easier to read, the bot just operates on plain text and doesn't require it.

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In addition to these forums, you can contact me personally via Github issues or with the email address shown in my Github profile.

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Chat forum links below; either of the bold ones will open in a browser without much hassle if you just want to get on quickly. Further forum details here.

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DiscordMatrix…in Element
All roomsInvite#array:matrix.orgSpace
BQN room#bqn:matrix.orgRoom
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Discord is a popular commercial chat client and Element is a similar UI for the open chat protocol Matrix. They're bridged together so that messages in one appear in the other. Most discussion happens on these (they're quite active), but see also the community page for activities and such in other places.

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Also feel free to contact me personally via Github issues or with the email address shown in my Github profile.

Can I help out?

Certainly! There are never enough hours in the day and contributors from beginner to advanced programmers are all welcome. If you're interested I recommend you ask on the forums first to get a feel for what exactly is needed.

You will certainly feel an urge to skip this paragraph and get to the fun stuff, but the most important resource for implementing a language is testing and the most valuable one for building a language community is accessible introductions to the language and learning materials. These are both very demanding, but if you're willing to put in the work to advance BQN in the most effective way then this is it. One form of documentation that many users would appreciate is short descriptions—a sentence or two with examples—of the primitives for each glyph that can be displayed as help in the REPL. To be honest I'm lousy at making these and would prefer for someone else to do it.

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