sxnahm@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Nahm) (03/20/84)
{} A while back I asked if anyone has tried STSC's version of APL for the IBM-PC. No responses were forth coming, but I've just noticed that the March issue of Byte has a good review of that version of APL, plus IBM's own. The review can be found on pages 246 through 264. The reviewer, Jacques Bensimon, pretty much likes both versions, but seems to favor STSC's APL*PLUS. He likes that version's better handling of memory segments, better output formatting method (traditional STSC []FMT), and still seems to harbor a grudge against IBM for not including APL characters in the IBM-PC's default character generator ROM (STSC provides a replacement ROM; IBM uses the graphics adaptor, or tries to get by with the default ROM). Bensimon shows the results of various benchmarks, comparing IBM APL, which requires an 8087 coprocessor, against STSC APL, both with and without the 8087 (it's used automatically if available). One of the benchmarks is an interesting chess problem solving program, which is listed in the article. For the sample problem which he used as the benchmark, IBM APL took 33.3 minutes, and STSC APL took 28.3 minutes. The author comments that he'd be interested in timings of this particular benchmark problem on hardware more powerful than the IBM-PC, so have at it. The review is informative, and Byte has included some useful side-bars, including "A brief look at APL". This review is worth reading if you're thinking of buying either of these two systems. STSC APL*PLUS goes for $595 and does not require an 8087. IBM APL cost $195, and requires the 8087, which costs $200-$260. Steve Nahm BBN Communications