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If you have no prior experience with an APL, no teacher and no textbook, your best bet is '''J''' from [[http://www.jsoftware.com|Jsoftware]]. You can [[http://www.jsoftware.com/download_systems.htm|download]] it free on a variety of platforms, including the Windows, Macs, Linux and the PocketPC. It requires no special fonts or keyboard mappings, and comes with substantial tutorial materials and the [[http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/FrontPage|J Wiki]]. There are contemporary text books (see [[http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/Books]]) for both the language itself and its use in mathematics. The [[http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm|J Forum]] is active, and helps and encourages new J programmers. |
If you have no prior experience with an APL, no teacher and no textbook, download [[Open Source APL: NARS2000|NARS2000]], an Open Source APL interpreter, and make use of the excellent APL [[http://aplwiki.com/LearnApl/LearningApl|Tutorial on the APL wiki]]. |
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There are no textbooks on the other modern APLs; J is an honourable exception. The classic textbooks tell nothing about important features of modern APLs such as object-oriented GUI support, control structures, .NET interfaces, direct definition, namespaces and user-defined operators. But if you have a classic textbook, such as Gilman & Rose, you can use it to learn the basics of the language. In this case, you will find the ISO-standard APL '''I-APL for Windows''' will serve you very well. You can [[attachment:iapl111.zip|download]] it here. == Open source == |
=== Open source === [[Open Source APL: NARS2000|NARS2000]] is an Open Source APL which is strongly suggested for looking into the language as such. It does not come with any OO-features, this is subject to the commercial implementation. |
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| == Industrial strength == | === Commercial APLs === ==== Interpreted APLs ==== |
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| [[http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/apl/|APL2]], [[http://www.apl2000.com/|APL2000]], [[http://www.microapl.co.uk/apl/|APLX]], [[http://www.dyalog.com|Dyalog APL]] and [[http://www.soliton.com/services_sharp.html|SHARP APL]] are primarily used for commercial programming and run on a variety of PC and mainframe platforms. They are extensively documented but offer little material to support new programmers. They are shipped with many features to assist working programmers and are excellent tools for general programming. | ||APL2 ||[[http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/apl/|external link]]|| ||APL+Win ||[[http://www.apl2000.com/|external link]]|| ||APLX ||[[http://www.microapl.co.uk/apl/|external link]]|| ||Dyalog ||[[http://www.dyalog.com|external link]]|| ||Sharp APL ||[[http://www.soliton.com/services_sharp.html|external link]]|| |
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| [[http://www.aplnext.com/|Visual APL]] is a new APL specifically designed for use with WikiPedia:Microsoft_Visual_Studio in multilingual applications. | are primarily used for commercial programming and run on a variety of PC and mainframe platforms; see [[System/SupportedPlatforms | SupportedPlatforms]] for details. |
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| While licences for these interpreters typically cost several hundred pounds, some vendors (eg Dyalog, IBM and MicroAPL) offer licences for '''educational purposes''' either free or at large discount. MicroAPL and Soliton Associates offer '''free personal versions''' of (respectively) APLX and SHARP APL for Linux. | They are extensively documented but some offer little material to support new programmers. They are shipped with many features to assist working programmers and are excellent tools for general programming. |
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| ==== Compiled APLs ==== [[http://forum.apl2000.com/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=65746cb3d23cf81a68ae03c5ea7c4e7a|Visual APL]] is an object-oriented, Unicode-based APL implementation which is fully-integrated with WikiPedia:Microsoft_Visual_Studio and produces truly managed code which fully inter-operates with any other .Net language, such as C# and VB.Net. An extensive collection of sample applications and detailed examples for VisualAPL are available at [[http://forum.apl2000.com/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=7af62b3872565f012a77b4e1956fbc1d|VisualAPL Forum]] ==== Pricing ==== While licences for these implementations typically cost several hundred pounds/euros/dollars, some vendors (e.g. APL2000 [both APL+Win and VisualAPL], Dyalog, IBM and MicroAPL) offer licences for '''educational purposes''' either free or at large discount. MicroAPL and Soliton Associates offer '''free personal versions''' of (respectively) APLX and SHARP APL for Linux. == Other members of the APL family == === J === J is Ken Iversons latest attempt to improve APL. J is certainly closely related to APL, but in the view of most people it is not an APL dialect. For details see the [[http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/FrontPage|J wiki]] === Q === |
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| ---- | == Documentation == There are some excellent books available adressing the needs of beginners as well as advanced programmers. Look at BooksAndPublications for a list. ---- |
Contents
Which APL?
Where to start — and with which APL? There are several to choose from.
Self-starters
If you have no prior experience with an APL, no teacher and no textbook, download NARS2000, an Open Source APL interpreter, and make use of the excellent APL Tutorial on the APL wiki.
Classic APL
Open source
NARS2000 is an Open Source APL which is strongly suggested for looking into the language as such. It does not come with any OO-features, this is subject to the commercial implementation.
A+ is an APL originally developed by Arthur_Whitney for financial-markets applications at Morgan Stanley, an American investment bank, where it has been used since the mid-1980s, and subsequently released under GNU Public Licence at aplusdev.org. The BAA built a Windows version of A+, which you can download from the BAA A+ project.
Commercial APLs
Interpreted APLs
APL2
APL+Win
APLX
Dyalog
Sharp APL
are primarily used for commercial programming and run on a variety of PC and mainframe platforms; see SupportedPlatforms for details.
They are extensively documented but some offer little material to support new programmers. They are shipped with many features to assist working programmers and are excellent tools for general programming.
Compiled APLs
Visual APL is an object-oriented, Unicode-based APL implementation which is fully-integrated with Microsoft_Visual_Studio and produces truly managed code which fully inter-operates with any other .Net language, such as C# and VB.Net. An extensive collection of sample applications and detailed examples for VisualAPL are available at VisualAPL Forum
Pricing
While licences for these implementations typically cost several hundred pounds/euros/dollars, some vendors (e.g. APL2000 [both APL+Win and VisualAPL], Dyalog, IBM and MicroAPL) offer licences for educational purposes either free or at large discount. MicroAPL and Soliton Associates offer free personal versions of (respectively) APLX and SHARP APL for Linux.
Other members of the APL family
J
J is Ken Iversons latest attempt to improve APL. J is certainly closely related to APL, but in the view of most people it is not an APL dialect. For details see the J wiki
Q
Q is the latest APL from Arthur Whitney, tuned for fast execution and very large database queries. It sees most use in financial markets, where server licences sell for tens of thousands of dollars. Educational licences are available for teaching; contact KX Systems.
Documentation
There are some excellent books available adressing the needs of beginners as well as advanced programmers. Look at BooksAndPublications for a list.