A survey of extensions to APL

Abstract

A survey of proposed extensions to the APL language is made with emphasis placed on the motivations for various proposals, the differences between them and the consequences of their adoption. Some issues of a more general nature concerning the purpose, process and direction of language extension are also discussed. An extensive bibliography is provided with annotations concerning the nature, development and influence of various authors' works. Areas of extension encompassed by the survey include nested arrays, complex numbers, uniform application of functions, laminar extension, primitive functions, control structures, direct definition, operators, system functions and variables, name scope control and event trapping.