A new graphical user interface proposal for APL

Abstract

In the past APL had two significant advantages over many other problem-solving computational tools. The first of these was that the language elements of APL have a consistency and breadth that remains unchallenged, at least for the tasks for which they were designed. The other historic advantage of APL, that it provided an interactive problem-solving environment, has long since been eroded. Indeed, we have seen a transformation of some programming languages into programming environments. The purpose of this paper is to explore some possible ways in which the face that APL presents to those who program with it could usefully be enhanced.