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APL Wiki:Content guidelines: Difference between revisions
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APL Wiki:Content guidelines (view source)
Revision as of 14:35, 6 September 2022
, 14:35, 6 September 2022→What is APL?: Try to avoid implying non-APL array languages shouldn't be documented
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== What is APL? == | == What is APL? == | ||
The APL Wiki is focused on APL, which is somewhat problematic because APL has no agreed-upon definition. On the APL Wiki we define an [[:Category:APL dialects|APL dialect]], or "an APL", to be a programming language that encodes [[Iverson notation]] in a text-based and machine-executable form, using the syntax and symbols established by the first such language to be publically available, [[APL\360]]. This includes [[A+]], but not similar languages with different symbols like [[ELI]], [[J]], or [[BQN]]: these should be called "languages" rather than "dialects". | The APL Wiki is focused on APL (not exclusively! See [[#Notability]]), which is somewhat problematic because APL has no agreed-upon definition. On the APL Wiki we define an [[:Category:APL dialects|APL dialect]], or "an APL", to be a programming language that encodes [[Iverson notation]] in a text-based and machine-executable form, using the syntax and symbols established by the first such language to be publically available, [[APL\360]]. This includes [[A+]], but not similar languages with different symbols like [[ELI]], [[J]], or [[BQN]]: these should be called "languages" rather than "dialects". | ||
However, the APL Wiki does not merely document facts about APL dialects, but rather concepts that are important to users of APL. For this purpose it's important to discern not just whether a language is or isn't an APL dialect, but to what extent it can be considered a member of the APL family. Features that make a language APL-like might include: | However, the APL Wiki does not merely document facts about APL dialects, but rather concepts that are important to users of APL. For this purpose it's important to discern not just whether a language is or isn't an APL dialect, but to what extent it can be considered a member of the APL family. Features that make a language APL-like might include: | ||