APL is an array language, with an exceptionally concise syntax allowed by restricted function arity, many operators, and strict right-to-left evaluation. It is

APL is an array language, with an exceptionally concise syntax allowed by restricted function arity, many operators, and strict right-to-left evaluation. It is still heavily used in the financial industry but little known elsewhere. Since APL is basically a powerful calculator, programmers usually don't take a close look. OK, so APL doesn't cover a lot of the usual territory, but what it does have is really cool. Besides, it's a small language and the best learning tools are free. APL won't take you long to understand and it will give you a better appreciation for the possibilities of array-oriented algorithms in R, MATLAB/Octave, or Python+NumPy. I like Dyalog and they have a free book (http://www.dyalog.com/intro/ http://www.dyalog.com/intro/) but there are others (http://www.rexswain.com/aplinfo.html http://www.rexswain.com/aplinfo.html)