Sometimes, it is just fun to confuse people with a terse language.

@JimG. kinda

@JimG. It isn't that bad. The [] establish a string (to be used as a macro). [d1-d1<F*] Dups the top element on the stack (d) and subtracts one from it (thats the d1-. It then dups that value, and compares it to 1. If it is greater than 1, it invokes the macro F on it, and multiplies it. A factorial. That string is then stored as 'F' (dsf). Then push onto the stack 8, lFx loads F and executes it.

Then 4lFx does the same for 4. d again is the dup for the top value on the stack, and * multiplies (d* is squaring the top value on the stack). / is divide, takes the top two values and divides one by the other. and p is print.

Its all about writing writing (8!)/((4!)*(4!)) Now, this isn't that necessary because 8! is only 40320. However, the problem requires that one be able to handle larger numbers. To solve the problem, you need to work with a number that has about 50 digits in it, which is beyond the integer of most languages.

dc is quite nice in this respect... I've done calculations with dc that have 500 digits in them without any noticeable issues. (just having fun, spitting out big numbers, the last four digits of 2^1,000,000 are '9376' - though it printed it all out, its too big to paste into chat it has a bit over 300,000 digits)

It takes a bit to crunching things... but it was able to do 2 10 7 ^ ^ p. Tossing that through wc has 3,097,555 characters (though 43627 of them are the backslash to show continuation of the previous line).

@MichaelT

Xerox Scanners not completely accurate

This is distressing

It looks like the site is getting hit rather hard at the moment... trouble loading images. And yes, it is quite distressing when one considers the implications.

Back to OCR fonts!

The classic MICR font for the US.

@MichaelT oddly enough there is a very similar font for Dyslexics

I used to write lab reports for my dyslexic instructor

(I prefer the US one over the european one)

@MichaelT I've spent the weekend ramming C# into my skull

The one we use is used by AU, CA, UK, and US.

given that it's basically a clone of Java, it's stupidly easy to learn

PascalCase though

What do you think of that beautiful terse dc macro and execution?

@MichaelT reminds me of why I want to learn an APL so much

The fun part was seeing how big it could go. I did 2^10,000,000 though that took awhile.

I know it chokes at 2^10^10

@MichaelT I looked at doing fast multiplication as a project for my Algorithms class

I assume you've heard who the new Doctor is?

Yep.

We're boned

given what his previous role was...

It was on NPR as I was driving back from Minnesota (lens crafters... had my pupils dialated this time (earlier in the day) and getting a 3rd pair of glasses (for computer work))

General purpose: progressive bifocals. Driving: single focal (distance). Computer: single focal (intermediate)

@MichaelT Pity they don't have proper cybereyes yet

Progressives don't work well for people with big or several monitors. Though, they do make a specialized progressive for office work.

Its banded - so distance is a thin layer at the top, intermediate is a thick layer in the middle, and then reading is a thin layer at the bottom.

Though not quite that design.

Had an interesting conversation on different types of specialized lenses. The executive bifocal which does a thick bottom reading for podiums.

@HodofHod Shalom

@HodofHod Welcome to our humble abode.

@HodofHod what does it do?

@HodofHod ah, well the closest we get to Hebrew here is Haskell.

and PHP

@JimmyHoffa I did post that MSO feature request. Got some response back on it. Not too much though.

@HodofHod one of the main web frameworks is called "Yesod".

@HodofHod I suppose it's a good name for a language that primarily sells itself as purely functional