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Latest revision as of 15:16, 8 August 2024

Welcome to APL Wiki,

458 articles about APL that anyone can edit.
See the navigational overview of content.

APL is an array-oriented programming language. Its natural, concise syntax lets you develop shorter programs while thinking more about the problem you're trying to solve than how to express it to a computer.

Running APL

Traditionally a commercial language, quite a few implementations are now free without feature limitations, several can be tried online, and many are open source.

Running APL ∙ Try APL online

Hello world

Taking up a new programming language can be a daunting task. While it can appear cryptic at first, you can learn to read, write and remember APL with little effort. There is plenty of material to help you in the process.

Introductions ∙ Learning resources ∙ Blogs ∙ Podcasts ∙ Videos

Who uses it?

APL is used by both hobbyists and application developers. There are active user groups and meetups online and all around the globe. There are also multiple online chat rooms and forums.

Case studies ∙ Job listings ∙ Conferences

Contributing

APL Wiki is an online open-content wiki; that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common knowledge resource. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content.

How to contribute ∙ New pages ∙ Wanted pages

Examples

APL's terseness means that substantial programs are expressible in a small space, relative to many other programming languages. Below are just a taste. Many more, and fully explained, examples are in the simple examples article.

Split text by delimiter

With the introduction of tacit programming, many functions can be expressed in fewer characters than even the shortest fitting name. For example ≠⊆⊢ is but three characters, while you would need five for the name Split:

Try it now!

      ','(≠⊆⊢)'comma,delimited,text'
┌─────┬─────────┬────┐
│comma│delimited│text│
└─────┴─────────┴────┘

Works in: Dyalog APL

Full explanation…

Conway's "Game of Life"

John Scholes is famous for the following implementation of Conway's Game of Life:

Try it now!

      ⎕←world←2 2 2 2⊤0 12 5 2 4 1
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 1 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 1
      {↑1 ⍵∨.∧3 4=+/,¯1 0 1∘.⊖¯1 0 1∘.⌽⊂⍵} world
1 1 0 1 0 0
0 1 1 1 0 0
0 1 0 1 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 0

Works in: Dyalog APL, ngn/apl

Full article…

Further simple examples ∙ Advanced examples

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 Taking up a new programming language can be a daunting task. While it can appear cryptic at first, you can learn to [[semantic density|read]], write and [[mnemonics|remember]] APL with little effort. There is plenty of material to help you in the process.
-<p style="text-align:center">'''[[Introductions]] ∙ [[Learning resources]]'''</p>
+<p style="text-align:center">'''[[Introductions]] ∙ [[Learning resources]] ∙ [[Blogs]] ∙ [[Podcasts]] ∙ [[Videos]]'''</p>
 |- style="vertical-align:top"
 | style="background:#faf5ff;border:1px solid #e0cef2;padding:0 1em" |
 <h2 style="margin:0.75em 0; background:#ddcef2; font-family:inherit; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #afa3bf; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em">Who uses it?</h2>
-APL is used by both hobbyists and application developers. There are active [[:Category:user groups|user groups]] all around the globe, many of these hold regular in-person meet-ups. There are also multiple online [[chat rooms and forums]].
+APL is used by both hobbyists and application developers. There are active [[user groups and meetups]] online and all around the globe. There are also multiple online [[chat rooms and forums]].
-<p style="text-align:center">'''[[Case studies]] ∙ [[Job listings]] ∙ [[Conferences and activities]]'''</p>
+<p style="text-align:center">'''[[Case studies]] ∙ [[Job listings]] ∙ [[Conferences]]'''</p>
 | style="background:#fff5fa;border:1px solid #f2cee0;padding:0 1em" |