[kwlug-disc] Off Topic: APL

[jvj at golden.net]

+1 for "sheer power of that language/platform": APL.

The APL system
function I mentioned was one of the many I-beam functions identified by
a symbol that looked like an I-Beam.
I never used a PC version of APL.
And have never seen a comparable "language/platform".
At the time, I did
not have the background in math to understand and appreciate the power
of APL.
JohnJ

-------------------------
SUBJECT: [kwlug-disc] Off
Topic: APL
DATE: Sat, 20 Jan 2018 13:48:20 -0500
FROM: Khalid Baheyeldin

TO: KWLUG discussion 
REPLY-TO: kb at 2bits.com, KWLUG discussion 

Wow!


That brings memories.

 In the mid 1980s, I was part of a team to
implement an information system on a mainframe. The mainframe did not
have any data entry method, so the branches would use a PC with a COBOL
application on it to enter the data and store it on 5.25" diskettes. A
driver would collect them and take them to the data centre where they
were uploaded to the mainframe.

 The guy who wrote the COBOL
application for the PC was a seasoned mainframe veteran from Alabama and
was frustrated by the lack of tools on the PC. So he used a PC version
of APL, and its internal full screen editor to edit the COBOL source
code, and then wrote some custom APL to reformat it correctly. That was
amazing.

 It was fascinated by how APL did not use ASCII letters for
directives, but rather mneumonics that looked like playing card symbols.
Also the sheer power of that language/platform. 

On Sat, Jan 20, 2018
at 11:10 AM,  wrote:
 Going OT with the ancient IBM stuff.
I skimmed
past the S/38 and As/400 and know very little about those
machines.
AFAIK The VM capability would let system developers define
target systems somewhat different than the system used for
development.

As a student (circa 1972) I ran Fortran card deck
assignments and personal APL stuff on the 360 aka 360 sickly.
A grad
student created an APL system function that would read a text matrix as
a text file containing a card deck.
When I used this APL function to run
Fortran assignments I noted that my jobs would bump above other jobs
submitted by people who had been standing in line for the card deck
reader.
APL - as an interactive subsystem on the 360 - had a higher
system priority than other jobs, e.g. compiler, assembler, etc.
My lowly
Fortran jobs, submitted through APL, inherited the APL priority.

JohnJ 
      

 

Links:
------
[1] mailto:jvj at golden.net
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