Byte ‘Classic Languages’ Article on APL

Transcribed from the printed issue; not yet reviewed. Read it in the PDF of the issue, page 76

Byte Magazine, December 1991, pp141 - 146¶

reviewed by Adrian Smith

Whenever I see 'APL Feature' billed on the cover of a computing magazine, I get that unpleasant sinking feeling! I was half-expecting Byte to run an article on APL in its 'Classic Languages' series, and I knew that Byte was one of the few computing journals to take APL seriously, so I opened my December 1991 issue at page 141 with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

Fortunately, I need not have worried; STSC had helped them over the obvious technical hurdle by providing a reasonable typeface, and Doris Appleby did a really good job of providing the average Byte reader with a broad-brush introduction to the notation.

Her article covers the early history of APL, and reviews the current commercial applications areas. It stresses the power of APL as a prototyping tool, and mentions its recreational value for "people who get a kick out of thinking". Modern implementations (e.g. APL.68000, APL2/6000, APL*PLUS and J) get good coverage, as does the 'A' development at Morgan Stanley. I-APL gets an honourable mention, as does APL92 at St Petersburg (the international appeal of APL is noted).

The Byte "Action Summary" concludes ...

If you want to do complex mathematical operations in just a few keystrokes, the APL language is well suited to your needs, but it will require a modified keyboard. Nonetheless, APL is used by specialists throughout the world.

You can't say fairer than that ... well done Byte.