APL standards

[li...@nbs-amrf.uucp]

Did the draft ISO/ANSI APL (c. '82) standard every get approved?
I don't recall hearing anything positive about this. Any comments
one way or the other? (If the standard did not get approved, why
not? If it did, is it a useful (rather than theoretical) standard,
in that there are implementations that follow it?)

I am assuming the draft was never approved. If this is the case,
is it a defacto standard nonetheless?

Whether or not the draft was approved, I classify other APL
implementations roughly as "upwards compatible" with one of:
APL\360, APLSV or APL2.

Is this a reasonable classification (in a gross sense)? I mean,
are there any other designs that more than, say, 2 other
implementations have followed?

As long as I'm at it, is there a better forum for APL issues than
net.lang.apl? I rarely see any articles in this newsgroup. I have
never seen any APL code in the sources newsgroups. All this makes
me think APL development is dead. (Are there discussions in Europe
that are not carried to the US? On other networks?)

Yes, I know about Quote Quad, and I think that's depressing also.

It seems the only time I hear interesting things about APL are at
conferences, but then I don't get to those too often.

Don Libes {seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!libes

[pol...@uicsl.uucp]

re: forums for apl

Since most of the machines on usenet are VAX or smaller Unix
machines, and APL development seems to take place in IBM-derived
industry rather than academia, its not surprising that
usenet is a poor forum for it.

Probably the best forums are held within the companies
that develop and use it (IBM IPSharp & STSC), but who knows
how to get at them?

I'm depressed too. I havent written a one-liner for 6 years.
The APL that comes with unix was hacked together seemingly to
prove the power of yacc. I tried it once, and found it so
ugly and incomplete that I just ignored it.

I keep waiting for the AMPERE WS1 to show up and convince me
to blow my budget on purely aesthetic grounds...

Jordan

[Lee Dickey]

> Yes, I know about Quote Quad, and I think that's depressing also.

Hey, what is so bad about Quote Quad?

[Don Libes]

> > Yes, I know about Quote Quad, and I think that's depressing also.
>
> Hey, what is so bad about Quote Quad?

I got your mail, and sent you a message back, but I guess you
didn't get it. I will try again and if it doesn't get there before
you read this message (and it should because it will take a shorter
route), let me know, and I will just go ahead and post my response.

I would rather not, since I know you are the editor, although you
are welcome to post my personal mail concerning QQ to you, if you
want.

Don Libes {seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!libes