J is a dialect of APL, a formal imperative language. Because it is imperative, a sentence in J may also be called an instruction, and may be executed to produce a result. Because it is formal and unambiguous it can be executed mechanically by a computer, and is therefore called a programming language. Because it shares the analytic properties of mathematical notation, it is also called an analytic language.
APL originated in an attempt to provide consistent notation for the teaching and analysis of topics related to the application of computers, and developed through its use in a variety of topics, and through its implementation in computer systems. Discussions of its design and evolution may be found in References 1-3.
A dictionary should not be read as an introduction to a language, but should rather be consulted in conjunction with other material that uses the language in some context of interest. On the other hand, a dictionary should be used not only to find the meanings of individual words, but should also be studied to gain an overall view of the language.
