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Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!ames!sdcsvax!net1!graifer
From: graifer@net1.ucsd.edu (Dan Graifer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.lang.apl
Subject: Re: APL.68000 information request (also for PClones)
Message-ID: <3172@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU>
Date: Fri, 15-May-87 03:28:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcsvax.3172
Posted: Fri May 15 03:28:19 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 16-May-87 14:13:35 EDT
References: <6487@amdahl.UUCP> <1021@chinet.UUCP>
Sender: nobody@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU
Reply-To: graifer@net1.UUCP (Dan Graifer)
Organization: UCSD Office of Academic Computing
Lines: 27
Keywords: APL Spencer Organization 68000
Xref: mnetor comp.sys.mac:3176 comp.sys.ibm.pc:4034 comp.lang.apl:41

In article <1021@chinet.UUCP> ward@chinet.UUCP (Ward Christensen-) writes:
>If you are only interested in "hacking", and have access to a PC or would
>consider a clone (you WERE considering a board for a PC, no?), might
>I recommend STSC APL?  It costs $595 (list), but they have a version
>minus the full-screen editor and a few other things, called "Pocket APL".
>  STSC is an EXCELLENT company, good products, good support.
>  800-592-0050 (Rockville MD)


STSC APL*PLUS/PC is an excellent product, except for one drawback.  Because
of the brain damaged segment register architecture of the intel processors,
there is a 64Kbyte size limit on all objects(vars or fns).  For floating 
point numbers, that is 8K numbers max per object.  I believe that, to keep the 
interpreter size down, the also make no storage distinction between boolean and 
integer data.  Since I believe it uses 4 byte integers, booleans can have at 
most 16K elements.  This is most limiting when doing things like string 
searches.  Fortunately, they provide a quad-ss system function to do this.

I have the first release of the APL*PLUS/Mac system.  Still a few minor 
problems in the first release, but very fast. Uses as much memory as you've
got.  (I've got 1MB, I have friends with 4MB).  I've created variables with
100,000 integer elements.  Used Domino to do OLS on 2200 cases of 20 variables
(ie y <domino> x, where x has 44000 floating point elements). You can't do 
that on any PC/clone.
                              Dan Graifer
                              graifer@net1.UCSD.EDU
Disclaimer: Nobody ever listens to me anyways; Why should they start now?