A financial modeling language using Nested Arrays

Abstract

The imminent implementation of nested arrays concepts in APL offers a wide variety of potential applications for end users of APL-based financial systems. Historically, limitations of traditional APL tend to inhibit the non-APL programmer in using application packages based in APL, primarily due to syntax conventions which are unfamiliar to financial users who have experience in FORTRAN, BASIC, or higher-level packages based in those languages. A key element in gaining wider acceptance of APL for financial modeling is a simplification of the APL-based systems to minimize the effects of the idiosyncrasies of APL syntax. STSC's Nested Arrays System (NARS) offers several valuable features toward this end. This paper gives an overview of the APL Nested Arrays Modeling System (ANAMS), which uses NARS features to create an English-like modeling language incorporating features previously infeasible using traditional APL methods.