Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bu-cs!tower From: tower@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Leonard H. Tower Jr.) Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl Subject: Re: APL for PC-AT clones Message-ID: <15856@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: Fri, 13-Nov-87 18:21:18 EST Article-I.D.: bu-cs.15856 Posted: Fri Nov 13 18:21:18 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 15-Nov-87 10:23:14 EST References: <2203@ihuxv.ATT.COM> <2205@ihuxv.ATT.COM> <2209@ihuxv.ATT.COM> <1039@cup.portal.com> <2410@umn-cs.UUCP> <1794@zhmti.UUCP> Reply-To: tower@bu-cs.bu.edu Organization: Distributed Systems Group, Boston University, 111 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA +1 (617) 353-2780 Lines: 65 Keywords: bsd release tape apl unix-pc Summary: Well, actually Unix-PC's and Suns ... X-UUCP-Path: ..!harvard!bu-cs!tower X-Home: 36 Porter Street, Somerville, MA 02143, USA +1 (617) 623-7739 Just notice this seminar announcement from California. At least, helpful to the Unix-PC folks. Maybe they'll do a PC/AT port soon. This is all I know about it, but I expect both companies are is Silicon Valley, so try telephone information out there (408-555-1212,415-555-1212,etc.). enjoy -len IBM Almaden Research Center 650 Harry Road San Jose, CA 95120-6099 RESEARCH CALENDAR November 9-13, 1987 ... SAX: SHARP APL UNDER UNIX J. K. Tuttle, I. P. Sharp Associates, and P. C. Berry, Digital Insight APL Int. Tech. Liaison Mtg. Tues., Nov. 10 1:00 P.M. Room: Front Aud. Sharp APL/UX (informally called SAX) is a new implementation of APL based on Iverson's "A Dictionary of the APL Language," recently published as Volume 18, No. 1 of the ACM Publication "APL Quote Quad." The thrust of Iverson's recent work has been simplification and generalization. Only a few new symbols have been added to the language; mostly, they denote what he now calls adverbs or conjunctions: that is, symbols that do not themselves denote actions, but modify the way in which other actions work. The concept of the automatic extension of scalar functions has been generalized to the complementary notions of "call" and "frame," permitting a function (whether primitive or user-defined) to be applied in parallel fashion throughout the cells contained in a framework of data. The partitioning of data into frame and cells is inherently neither in the data array nor in the verbs applied to it, but is governed by the conjunction "rank" which specifies how a verb treats its arguments. To permit the parallel cell-wise application of several functions, the language provides three conjunctions that form compositions. Where parallel execution produces results of inconsistent shape, the system's tolerant frame-builder provides for automatic adjustment to a rectangular frame. APL/UX supports three types of simple data: character, numeric and "boxed" (otherwise called "nested" or "enclosed"), as well as mixed arrays containing any of these. The approach to boxed arrays differs somewhat from that taken in APL2, and does not require (or provide) operators to govern the application of functions to nested arrays. Iverson's Dictionary includes the definitions of a selection verb and a merge conjunction which, taken together, replace the old notations for indexing and indexed assignment. However, these are not yet supported in SAX. SAX is written in C, and runs under Unix(TM). Versions are now available for the Sun workstation and the AT&T Unix PC. They include the usual support for shared variables, and through them to auxiliary processors that run APL tasks or communicate with the operating system to execute Unix commands or handle native files. The talk will discuss the principles behind SAX APL. Assuming that we succeed in connecting the Sun or AT&T equipment to the projector at IBM, it will be accompanied by a live demonstration. Host: R. Dunbar ...