APL (programming Language) - Overview

Overview

Unlike traditionally structured programming languages, code in APL is typically structured as chains of monadic or dyadic functions and operators acting on arrays. As APL has many nonstandard primitives (functions and operators, indicated by a single symbol or a combination of a few symbols), it does not have function or operator precedence. Early APL implementations did not have control structures (do or while loops, if-then-else), but by using array operations, usage of structured programming constructs was just not necessary. For example, the iota function (which yields a one-dimensional array, or vector, from 1 to N) can replace for-loop iteration. More recent implementations of APL generally include comprehensive control structures, so that data structure and program control flow can be clearly and cleanly separated.

The APL environment is called a workspace. In a workspace the user can define programs and data, i.e. the data values exist also outside the programs, and the user can manipulate the data without the necessity to define a program. For example,

assigns the vector values 4 5 6 7 to N;

adds 4 to all values (giving 8 9 10 11) and prints them (a return value not assigned at the end of a statement to a variable using the assignment arrow is displayed by the APL interpreter);

prints the sum of N, i.e. 22.

The user can save the workspace with all values, programs and execution status.

APL is well known for its use of a set of non-ASCII symbols, which are an extension of traditional arithmetic and algebraic notation. Having single character names for SIMD vector functions is one way that APL enables compact formulation of algorithms for data transformation such as computing Conway's Game of Life in one line of code (example). In nearly all versions of APL, it is theoretically possible to express any computable function in one expression, that is, in one line of code.

Because of its condensed nature and non-standard characters, APL has sometimes been termed a "write-only language", and reading an APL program can at first feel like decoding Egyptian hieroglyphics. Because of the unusual character set, many programmers use special keyboards with APL keytops for authoring APL code. Although there are various ways to write APL code using only ASCII characters, in practice, it is almost never done. (This may be thought to support Iverson's thesis about notation as a tool of thought.) Most if not all modern implementations use standard keyboard layouts, with special mappings or input method editors to access non-ASCII characters. Historically, the APL font has been distinctive, with uppercase italic alphabetic characters and upright numerals and symbols. Most vendors continue to display the APL character set in a custom font.

Advocates of APL claim that the examples of so-called write-only code are almost invariably examples of poor programming practice or novice mistakes, which can occur in any language. Advocates of APL also claim that they are far more productive with APL than with more conventional computer languages, and that working software can be implemented in far less time and with far fewer programmers than using other technology. APL lets an individual solve harder problems faster. Also, being compact and terse, APL lends itself well to larger scale software development as complexity arising from a large number of lines of code can be dramatically reduced. Many APL advocates and practitioners view programming in standard programming languages, such as COBOL and Java, as comparatively tedious. APL is often found where time-to-market is important, such as with trading systems.

Iverson later designed the J programming language, which uses ASCII with digraphs instead of special symbols.