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The condensed "syntax" (notation) is actually a feature! Read "Notation as a Tool of Thought" to learn more, it's actually one of the best parts of APL as a who
by kick 7y ago
The condensed "syntax" (notation) is actually a feature! Read "Notation as a Tool of Thought" to learn more, it's actually one of the best parts of APL as a whole.
- mamcx 7y agoYeah, i have read it (is good!). But could be useful to de-compress it and see how is used "normally" then the step back, I think.
- Firadeoclus 7y agoIndeed, as someone who's learning a bit of APL on the side I'd love to have a tool that can "explain" a line of APL on demand, e.g. show the parse tree, name built-in functions and operators, expand trains, possibly name common idioms. I find the concepts in APL very simple. The difficulty for me is in becoming comfortable reading it. Such a tool would make it quick and easy to confirm one's initially very tentative guesses as to what a line means, and gradually you'd come to depend less on it as you get more confident that your initial understanding is right.
- kick 7y agoHave you seen the FinnAPL idiom library? https://www.finnapl.fi/idilib.htm https://www.finnapl.fi/idilib.htm And not that I'd recommend using proprietary software, but something that might be helpful for you regarding naming is that Dyalog APL has a top bar with every character used in modern APL, the name of them, and (I think, I've never actually used the system) an example of how to use them.
- Firadeoclus 7y agoThanks for the link. Yes, I've seen other idiom libraries as well, and what I'd like to see is automatic lookup of those idioms, with a name, and optional further breakdown.