For ranking information, the most accessible text is probably chapter 6 J for C programmers . The Eric Iverson Primer section, which begins with Atom and goes through Checkpoint E, covers the topic more briefly. Chapter 7 of Learning J is another place. All are valuable.
The most in-depth study of the Rank is Roger Hui Rank's essay and uniformity . Hui paper will become better read after you have studied other texts on this subject. If it occurred to you to perform the desired implementation process, you can immerse yourself in the source code of the interpreter . Personally, I would not have done this last. If I wanted to take a look at the implementation algorithms, I would build a small model and test it against the results of the J interpreter to make sure that my understanding of Rank matches.
Rank, in my opinion, is the most important concept in J. This is pretty abstract, since it applies to all forms that nouns can take. Relevant concepts are important to learn. These include form, frame, cell, and agreement. They are explained individually in Primer, but they are explained in some way each time a topic is examined in depth.
The better your understanding of a rank compound and the wider world of the noun Rank and the verb Rank in which it is applied, the more useful you will find the three sections of the Dictionary that relate to this compound. (These sections are m "n , u" n , and m "vu" v .)
If you come up with any algorithms that will help you figure out the details in stages, other J programmers will like to see them, I'm sure. I do not know anything from these lines, except for the actual source code of the interpreter.