"chaz_heritage.WGC1RX"@XEROX.COM (02/27/89)
I am on the mailing list of the International APL Project. This is a
dedicated group of APL enthusiasts who are engaged in the historic
endeavour to devise a variant of APL (A Programming Language) which will
work on a large number of microcomputers and which will standardise itself
worldwide.
APL is a difficult-looking language, consisting, at first sight, almost
entirely of curious heiroglyphics. However, it is immensely powerful. The
Sharp-APL manual gives examples of the same program written in FORTRAN,
BASIC and APL. Both of the 'conventional' languages require a dozen or so
lines of program; APL achieves the same result with half a dozen
characters. An array-oriented language, it has great potential for mass
information handling. It also seems possible that APL would be the most
suitable route for implementation of arcana such as the RSA cipher.
The Atari ST, with its facility to import screen fonts, is an ideal
platform for APL. The only 'extra' required would be a keyboard's worth of
stickies to show the 'heiroglyphic' function of each key. However, I note
from the latest newsletter of the I-APL Project that I-APL has not yet been
ported to the ST. I quote:
>Porting Help is Badly Needed
Such abilities are like gold dust (at least if they are combined with the
time and the sort of altruism needed to work on this project) and if anyone
knows where they are to be found we would be delighted to hear. A
port...for the Atari ST... could bring the author kudos, a warm feeling and
the thanks of thousands. We will pay out of pocket expenses. If you know of
a potential porter and think you could keep them encouraged to a successful
conclusion - ring me up. I have a stack of ready prepared porters' kits.<
The I-APL Project intends to release versions of I-APL as cheaply as
possible - the software costs no more than its media, and the manuals cost
less than would photocopies of the same documents . Effectively they place
their work into the public domain, with the express intention that it
should be available to as many people as possible.
Such internationalist altruism is deeply unfashionable in today's world.
The release of a new language for a particular machine is usually the
preserve of profit-conscious software houses, who protect their profits
with litigation, spoilers, dongles and the occasional virus. The I-APL
Project is different. I cannot help them - I am only a poor hardware type,
with my knuckles and soldering iron dragging on the ground. However, I know
that out there are people with the most arcane and esoteric software
skills, one at least of whom must be looking for a project worthy of their
talent, outwith the common run of shoot-em-up games and yet more C-compiler
modifications.
One of the people reading this has the power to make the Atari ST one of
the standard platforms for I-APL. The I-APL Project estimate that >it would
take a competent programmer, who knows both the operating system and
machine code thoroughly, between a week and a fortnight to do a good port.<
If anybody with these abilities feels that they can offer any assistance to
the I-APL Project I would ask them to contact me. I will immediately put
them in touch with the I-APL Project, and do whatever I can to facilitate
their work.
Regards,
Chaz