ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu (L.J.Dickey) (12/04/89)
In article <628@ubbpc.UUCP> wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) writes: > No, I have not seen any programming language translation products that can > handle APL. The difficulty is probably the parallel operations on generic > arrays of dynamically differing size and dimension. It could be done in > C++, Ada, LISP, or other languages, but I have not seen it done. > I am not sure what the original question was, Hutchinson did not say, but translation tools from APL to other languages do exist. One example is the APL compiler written by Tim Budd. A key part of his APL compiler is a tool that translates a moderately restricted subset of APL to C for compilation. Of course Budd goes much further, since he also provides the hooks that allow the compiled code to be integrated with the other interpreted code in the workspace. The company STSC provides a compilation service on their mainframe product. This APL compiler was developed under the leadership of Clark Wiedmann. Finally, there is an APL to Ada translator developed by a major supplier of software to the US government. The creation of this tool was stimulated by the ease of software development in APL and the requirement of the buyer that their software written in Ada. -- L. J. Dickey, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo. ljdickey@water.UWaterloo.ca ljdickey@water.BITNET ljdickey@water.UUCP ..!uunet!watmath!water!ljdickey ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu
wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) (12/06/89)
In article <2811@water.waterloo.edu>, ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu (L.J.Dickey) writes: > > In article <628@ubbpc.UUCP> wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) writes: > > > No, I have not seen any programming language translation products that can > > handle APL. The difficulty is probably the parallel operations on generic > > arrays of dynamically differing size and dimension. It could be done in > > C++, Ada, LISP, or other languages, but I have not seen it done. > > I am not sure what the original question was, Hutchinson did not say, > but translation tools from APL to other languages do exist. Sorry, I intended this to be a personal reply, not a broadcast one. > One example is the APL compiler written by Tim Budd. Who and where is Tim Budd? > A key part of his APL compiler is a tool that translates > a moderately restricted subset of APL ... How restricted? > to C for compilation. > Of course Budd goes much further, since he also provides the > hooks that allow the compiled code to be integrated with the > other interpreted code in the workspace. Does this mean the C version cannot be run except under the control of an APL interpreter? > The company STSC provides a compilation service on their mainframe > product. [ ... ] This is not translation to another language (or is it?). > Finally, there is an APL to Ada translator developed by a major > supplier of software to the US government. The creation of this > tool was stimulated by the ease of software development in APL > and the requirement of the buyer that their software written in Ada. Specifics, please? > -- > L. J. Dickey, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo. > ljdickey@water.UWaterloo.ca ljdickey@water.BITNET > ljdickey@water.UUCP ..!uunet!watmath!water!ljdickey Prof. Dickey: You left some technical issues unanswered... Isn't it the case that all these APL translators must include an interpretive runtime module? Thus, translating to another language is not complete unless one also has the runtime. -- Bill Hutchison, DP Consultant rutgers!cbmvax!burdvax!ubbpc!wgh Unisys UNIX Portation Center "Unless you are very rich and very eccentric, P.O. Box 500, M.S. B121 you will not enjoy the luxury of a computer Blue Bell, PA 19424 in your own home", Edward Yourdon, 1975.