> -----Original Message----- > From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of David Boyes > Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 8:56 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Progress on PL/1 for Linux > > <snip> > For what it was designed to do, APL is very, very powerful (eats big > numeric problems for breakfast, and it's unbelievably concise). It's > biggest flaws (and IMHO, the things that killed it) were the > requirement > for custom symbol sets on displays and the inability to discuss > programming in it without having a standard method to note the symbols > in environments without the special symbol sets. It'd be less of a > problem today with the prevalence of pixel-addressible > displays, but at > that time, Mathematica and Macsyma were a lot easier to use and > implement, and didn't require special (and expensive) terminals. >
FWIW - Ken Iverson, the father of APL, has created another language called "J" which has all the power of APL without the need for the "special symbols". http://www.jsoftware.com/ IIRC, APL was originally designed to concisely write algorithms for mathematical papers and not as an implementation on a computer. And mathematicians were already using those "weird symbols". -- John McKown Senior Systems Programmer UICI Insurance Center Information Technology This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and its' content is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this transmission, or taking any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
