The Education Vector

Transcribed from the printed issue; not yet reviewed. Read it in the PDF of the issue, page 27

The Education Vector¶

April 1993

Editor Alan Mayer

This Education Vector has been reprinted from VECTOR Vol.9 No.4. VECTOR is the Quarterly Journal of the British APL Association. For more information about the British APL Association, please contact: Anthony Camacho, [address and telephone number omitted].

Contents¶

Dr. Alan Mayer
European Business Management School
University College of Swansea
Singleton Park
Swansea SA2 8PP Wales, UK

Ysgol Rheolaeth Busnes Ewropeaidd
Parc Singleton,
Abertawe SA2 8PP

Tel: 0792-205678 Ext.4274 Fax: 0792-295626 JANET: MAYER@UK.AC.SWAN.MS

Editorial¶

Hello, and welcome to your “Spring” copy of Education Vector. This is written with a certain amount of sarcasm, as I gaze out over a wind-swept and rain-soaked Swansea. But I trust that by the time you read it Spring will indeed have come and the sun will be shining (you see, I am an eternal optimist at heart).

Last time, I promised you a detailed comparison of the low-cost (and in some cases free) APL interpreters. The article by Dick Holt in this edition, which has been circulated in various forms via various media, is an attempt at a “beginner’s guide”. It originates from the APLSIG of the Capital PC User Group, who invite everyone to circulate/republish it as widely as possible. As always, I shall be pleased to send copies of this edition and future editions of Education Vector to anyone who sends me their address.

While I am grateful for the work that has been done to make this comparison between interpreters, I feel that there is more that could be done, perhaps with contributions from our own readers. The report as it stands is largely aimed at business applications, which do not always share the requirements of educational establishments. For example, I-APL may be slower and offer less memory than its rivals, but the fact that it is available for a wide variety of machines, many of which are currently being used in our schools, makes it an attractive option for educational purposes.

For many, of course, the low-cost interpreters provide an easy path into the use of APL, whether for business, educational or other purposes. It is clearly part of our job to encourage this growth in the applications of APL. I should point out, however, that I have yet to find a low-cost interpreter that is a serious rival to those produced for professional purposes. For my own work I use Dyalog and APL*PLUS, and I have colleagues using APL.68000 and APL2 — none of us is about to give up the professional environment for a low-cost option. That having been said — I will be pleased to hear from anyone with contributions to make to the discussion, especially those who have used one or more of the packages in the educational environment.

The promised follow-up to Howard Peelle’s article on Workshop Design is a Sample Topic on “Triangular Numbers”. I find the method of presentation very instructive, and I hope it helps and encourages others to produce material of similar high standard.

Finally, all you APLers out there — drop me a line to tell me about your latest APL project. I am always looking for material that may be of interest to our readers. And if you are not already members, why not think about joining the British APL Association? If you do not have an application form, write to Rowena Small, [address omitted]. UK subscription is currently £12 (students £6).