> A friend of mine used to work at IP Sharp(e?). IP Sharp.
> One of the things he implemented in Sharp APL was a way of getting > different types into a matrix. He created a 'Matrix of Matrices'. > So, you could create a bunch of 1byN Matrix elements. > This way you could store (for example): > Part Name (char) > Part Number (int) > Part Cost (float) > in the same matrix, rather than creating (and co-ordinating) multiples. All APL data items were arrays. IP Sharp APL gained mixed data types in arrays shortly before IBM delivered the original APL2 IUP in 1984/5. The more complete (and rational) implementation came out with the APL2 program product in 1986 or thereabouts. In both cases they were based on Dr Jim Brown's doctoral work on array theory. Jim later became the APL language architect at STL (now SVL) CC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
