IBM: Difference between revisions

The '''International Business Machines Corporation''' ('''IBM''') was the initial developer of APL, hosting [[Ken Iverson]]'s development of [[Iverson notation]] since 1960 and creating implementations from [[APL\360]] (1966) to [[APL2]] (1984). Its notable employees include [[Adin Falkoff]] and [[Jim Brown]] whose contributions were made at IBM, as well as others such as [[Ken Iverson]], [[Eugene McDonnell]], and [[Larry Breed]] who worked at IBM before moving elsewhere. While APL efforts were allowed substantial freedom as research projects, the language's insignificance relative to IBM's other business sometimes led to it being neglected. Development of APL2 slowed soon after its release, and IBM sold off rights to APL2 in 2021.

Initial APL work was carried out at the [[wikipedia:Thomas J. Watson Research Center|Thomas J. Watson Research Center]] in [[wikipedia:Yorktown Heights, New York|Yorktown Heights, New York]]. [[Adin Falkoff]] had worked there since 1955, and [[Ken Iverson]] joined (on the advice of former teaching assistant [[wikipedia:Fred Brooks|Fred Brooks]]) in 1960. The group hired [[Larry Breed]] in 1962 and [[Dick Lathwell]] in 1966. Breed and Lathwell collaborated with [[wikipedia:Stanford University|Stanford University]] students [[Phil Abrams]] and [[Roger Moore]], who were never directly hired by IBM, in the implementation of [[IVSYS/7090]] and [[APL\360]] respectively. [[Jim Brown]], who had learned about APL at another IBM job started in 1965 and then left for [[Syracuse University]], worked at Watson Research beginning in 1969, at Yorktown over the summer and remotely from Syracuse while he worked on his Ph.D.<ref>Jim Brown. [https://old.aplwiki.com/OnAPLsHistory?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=JimBrownsPersonalHistoryOf_APL_20170405.pdf A Personal History of APL]. Updated 2017-04-05.</ref>