5 ms·

Isn't the original APL the only lang that uses actual Unicode symbols for operators?

pavlov 4y ago
There’s also at least BQN, which I suspect is the language used in those comments: https://mlochbaum.github.io/BQN/ https://mlochbaum.github.io/BQN/
- chrispsn 4y ago
  Yep, the comments are the BQN version.
ksherlock 4y ago
There are esoteric code golf languages that use unicode. MPW (shell, assembler) used extended characters (MacRoman, not unicode but then again, APL also predates unicode) for some operations. eg, instead of "echo yo >> file" you would "echo yo ≥ file"
- messe 4y ago
  Julia has support for Unicode operators. Most editor plugins for Julia allow you to enter the characters using (La)Tex syntax, so it’s quite common to see.
  - sli 4y ago
    Unicode support doesn't really seem that uncommon, in the grand scheme. Rosetta Code's wiki has a page for languages that support Unicode variable names[0] and some of them were surprising to me (e.g. AppleScript). Of course, supporting Unicode variable names doesn't mean a language supports Unicode anywhere, but it's a starting point for historical research at least. [0]: https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Unicode_variable_names https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Unicode_variable_names
remexre 4y ago
Agda does too! https://plfa.github.io/ https://plfa.github.io/ for examples
thechao 4y ago
Fortress.
Jasper_ 4y ago
APL predates Unicode! You used to have to use special APL keyboards to write it. The symbols were included in Unicode as a way to try and make APL more palatable.
- jdlshore 4y ago
  > The symbols were included in Unicode as a way to try and make APL more palatable. That seems highly unlikely. Do you have a source, or are you sharing speculation as fact? It’s more likely that APL symbols were included in Unicode as part of its mission to unify all the world’s scripts into single code set.
  - shrubble 4y ago
    They weren't included to make it more palatable, but because APL was being actively used in larger systems.
mostlylurks 4y ago
Haskell allows defining unicode operators, and has an extension that allows you to use unicode symbols instead of ascii sequences in various parts of the syntax.
jlg23 4y ago
APL predates the first documented thoughts (not specification/implementation) of unicode by roughly 20 years.
- b112 4y ago
  APL predates the first documented thoughts I used to think that Lisp was bad, with its "God coded the universe in Lisp", then I read only the first part of your sentence, and was "Woha, so APL predates thought?!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-OjTPj7K54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-OjTPj7K54
dan-robertson 4y ago
Raku (fka perl6) has some, eg you can use <atom emoji>+= to atomically increment a value.
Avshalom 4y ago
this is a bit obscure but Trealla Prolog allows for full unicode in the source and user defined operators, which is nice.
lizmat 4y ago
No. In the Raku Programming Language there are several non-ASCII operators, although each of them has a pure ASCII equivalent. Some examples: ≤ vs <=, ≠ vs !=, ∈ vs (elem), etc. The full list: https://docs.raku.org/language/unicode_ascii.html https://docs.raku.org/language/unicode_ascii.html

There’s also at least BQN, which I suspect is the language used in those comments: https://mlochbaum.github.io/BQN/ https://mlochbaum.github.io/BQN/

chrispsn 4y ago
Yep, the comments are the BQN version.

ksherlock 4y ago

There are esoteric code golf languages that use unicode. MPW (shell, assembler) used extended characters (MacRoman, not unicode but then again, APL also predates unicode) for some operations. eg, instead of "echo yo >> file" you would "echo yo ≥ file"

messe 4y ago
Julia has support for Unicode operators. Most editor plugins for Julia allow you to enter the characters using (La)Tex syntax, so it’s quite common to see.
- sli 4y ago
  Unicode support doesn't really seem that uncommon, in the grand scheme. Rosetta Code's wiki has a page for languages that support Unicode variable names[0] and some of them were surprising to me (e.g. AppleScript). Of course, supporting Unicode variable names doesn't mean a language supports Unicode anywhere, but it's a starting point for historical research at least. [0]: https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Unicode_variable_names https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Unicode_variable_names

remexre 4y ago

Agda does too! https://plfa.github.io/ https://plfa.github.io/ for examples

thechao 4y ago

Fortress.

Jasper_ 4y ago

APL predates Unicode! You used to have to use special APL keyboards to write it. The symbols were included in Unicode as a way to try and make APL more palatable.

jdlshore 4y ago
> The symbols were included in Unicode as a way to try and make APL more palatable. That seems highly unlikely. Do you have a source, or are you sharing speculation as fact? It’s more likely that APL symbols were included in Unicode as part of its mission to unify all the world’s scripts into single code set.
- shrubble 4y ago
  They weren't included to make it more palatable, but because APL was being actively used in larger systems.

mostlylurks 4y ago

Haskell allows defining unicode operators, and has an extension that allows you to use unicode symbols instead of ascii sequences in various parts of the syntax.

jlg23 4y ago

APL predates the first documented thoughts (not specification/implementation) of unicode by roughly 20 years.

b112 4y ago
APL predates the first documented thoughts I used to think that Lisp was bad, with its "God coded the universe in Lisp", then I read only the first part of your sentence, and was "Woha, so APL predates thought?!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-OjTPj7K54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-OjTPj7K54

dan-robertson 4y ago

Raku (fka perl6) has some, eg you can use <atom emoji>+= to atomically increment a value.

Avshalom 4y ago

this is a bit obscure but Trealla Prolog allows for full unicode in the source and user defined operators, which is nice.

lizmat 4y ago

No. In the Raku Programming Language there are several non-ASCII operators, although each of them has a pure ASCII equivalent. Some examples: ≤ vs <=, ≠ vs !=, ∈ vs (elem), etc. The full list: https://docs.raku.org/language/unicode_ascii.html https://docs.raku.org/language/unicode_ascii.html