APL as an embedded language: the ultimate application?

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a new approach to the development of customized applications. It first discusses two problems whith APL programming: writting efficient programs, and building user interfaces. It then describes the proposed solution, that consists in writting the skeleton of the application in an efficient compiled language, using some predefined building blocks, and developing the other parts in APL.This approach is closer to integrated systems, such as spreadsheets, or data-base managers, than to traditional APL applications executed under the control of an interpreter. It differs from these integrated systems in the fact that the development cost is kept low, so that new applications, highly customized for specific end users may be built from scratch, or more exactly, from predefined building blocks.

REFERENCES

• 1: Heikki Apiola , Pirkka Peltola, Integrating APL with symbol manipulation, numerical software and graphics, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.20 n.4, p.10-17, July 1990
• 2: Inside Macintosh, Apple Computer Inc,, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc, 1988.
• 3: R. Brown, APL at the crossroads, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.19 n.4, p.68-74, Aug. 1989
• 4: Michael F. C. Crick, Should APL be a declining language?, Proceedings of the international conference on APL, p.83-88, October 21-23, 1981, San Francisco, California, United States
• 5: FaceWare, 1310 N. Broadway, Urbana, IL 61801 USA, [phone]. The FaceWare Pack provides a complete Mac interface to existing programs, including access to the dialog manager, text editor, graphics windows and spreadsheet windows. Compatible products are being developed by other companies to add new capabilities to applications within the same consistant interface.
• 6: Jean Jacques Girardot , Sega Sako, An object oriented extension to APL, Proceedings of the international conference on APL: APL in transition, p.128-137, May 10-14, 1987, Dallas, Texas, United States
• 7: J.J. Girardot, M. Amarti, An Object Extension To APL, Research Report 88-4, Ecole Nationale Sup6rieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, 158 Cours Fauriel, 42023 Saint-Etienne C6dex, France, October 1988.
• 8: Morten Kromberg , Martin Gfeller, An application development platform, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.20 n.4, p.217-227, July 1990
• 9: Jim Lucas, Programming ecology or APL and the world at large, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.20 n.4, p.251-259, July 1990
• 10: MacTutor, 1250 N. Lakeview Suite O, Anaheim, CA 92807, [phone]. MacTutor, "The Macintosh Programming Journal", is the reference for all developers of software on Macintosh.
• 11: R. Nabavi, APL windowing systems - where next?, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.19 n.4, p.278-284, Aug. 1989
• 12: Jonny Österman, Very high quality user interfaces and fast data filing using a PC, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.20 n.4, p.418-426, July 1990
• 13: Ursula Recker , Michael Rys, A preferable look—APL in window-based environments, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.20 n.4, p.312-321, July 1990
• 14: William A. Rutiser, Object-oriented programming of X Window System graphical user interfaces, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.20 n.4, p.331-341, July 1990
• 15: Danald Soule, Stability in a sea of change, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.20 n.4, p.365-368, July 1990

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications

          Nouns: APL

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)

General Terms:
Design, Languages, Performance