Re: name an array function

[<tomas@tuxteam.de>]

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On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 11:32:28AM +0100, Daniel Llorens wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> version 2.2 of Guile will (I hope) include rank-polymorphic versions
> of array-ref, array-set! and array-for-each. What this means is that
> instead of requiring as many indices as the rank of the array, with
> these functions you can give fewer indices and get a subarray (a
> ‘prefix slice’). If you give all the indices, they behave just as
> the current versions.

Yay! (the really exciting part is in the PSen).

> My original intention was for these functions to replace array-ref
> and array-set!. That's how a number of array languages/libraries do
> it (numpy, to mention a popular one. You don't need to say A[i, :, :],
> you can just say A[i].). However, the maintainers spoke against this,
> so these functions need different names.

Understandable... but a pity, really.

[J...]

Uh, oh. That's NSFW material ;-) My head exploded (faint memories
of APL).

> civodul has proposed array-slice instead of array-from. However,
> array-from only returns a slice when the rank of the result would
> be positive. wingo has pointed out that it is unusual to have a
> function name ending in a preposition. 
> 
> What do *you* think should be the names of these functions?

I do like slice. But I'm perhaps off because I don't quite understand
your mumblings about "the rank of the result would be positive".
What do they return otherwise? Do they throw an exception?

thanks
- -- t
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