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Dyalog Ltd.: Difference between revisions
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→Dyalog APL: Trim some background material not directly related to Dyalog
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=== Dyalog APL === | === Dyalog APL === | ||
The market for personal computers was quickly growing at the beginning of the 1980s. As a consulting rather than a timesharing business, Dyadic was not tied to the mainframe model, but was hindered by the small number of APL implementations for PC. | The market for personal computers was quickly growing at the beginning of the 1980s. As a consulting rather than a timesharing business, Dyadic was not tied to the mainframe model, but was hindered by the small number of APL implementations for PC. In 1981, the company met with [[wikipedia:Zilog|Zilog]] UK regarding the upcoming System 8000, based on the [[wikipedia:Zilog Z8000|Z8000]] processor. Zilog wanted an APL for the Z8000 because of a requirement set by the Swedish Ministry of Defence for Unix suppliers. | ||
Dyalog (Europe) Ltd. was registered for this purpose in 1981. The new name blended those of the two collaborators, as mentioned in the press release: | |||
Dyalog (Europe) Ltd. was registered for this purpose in 1981. The new | |||
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This company is DYALOG (EUROPE) LIMITED, | This company is DYALOG (EUROPE) LIMITED, | ||
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</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
Zilog provided | Zilog provided a dedicated Z8000 minicomputer and development facilities for the Dyalog language. Dyadic hired [[John Scholes]] (another Atkins employee, who had left to work as a developer on an APL implementation for the [[wikipedia:ICL 2900|ICL 2900]]) as designer and chief programmer for the project. [[Geoff Streeter]] and David Crossley joined Scholes as Dyalog implementors. | ||
The choice to implement Dyalog in [[wikipedia:C (programming language)|C]] on a [[wikipedia:UNIX|UNIX]] system would later enable Dyalog APL to be ported to many other systems. The choice to make Dyalog a [[Nested array model|nested]] APL like [[NARS]] and the in-process [[APL2]] would also have a major effect on Dyalog's development as a company. | The choice to implement Dyalog in [[wikipedia:C (programming language)|C]] on a [[wikipedia:UNIX|UNIX]] system would later enable Dyalog APL to be ported to many other systems. The choice to make Dyalog a [[Nested array model|nested]] APL like [[NARS]] and the in-process [[APL2]] would also have a major effect on Dyalog's development as a company. | ||
Dyalog was released at the [[APL83|1983 APL Conference]] in Washington, D.C., a venue it shared with | [[Dyalog APL]] was released at the [[APL83|1983 APL Conference]] in Washington, D.C., a venue it shared with MicroAPL's [[APL.68000]] and [[STSC]]'s [[APL*PLUS/PC]]. Initial sales were slow due to the obscurity at the time of the nested array model, Unix operating system, and Zilog system in addition to Dyalog APL's poor [[performance]] relative to other APLs exhibited. | ||
=== Purchase by Lynwood === | === Purchase by Lynwood === | ||