Extending APL2 to include program control structures

ABSTRACT

APL2, and APL before it, have always been criticised for not embodying formal program flow control structures. It is proposed that a set of reserved words be added to the APL2 language. This set could include "if", "else", "while", etc. This extension should enhance performance and improve the readability of programs. This improved readability could lead to more maintainable code.

REFERENCES

• Ab75: Philip S. Abrams, What's wrong with APL?, Proceedings of seventh international conference on APL, p.1-8, June 11-13, 1975, Pisa, Italy [doi>10.1145/800117.803777]
• Bi75: Harvey W. Bingham, Content analysis of APL defined functions, Proceedings of seventh international conference on APL, p.60-66, June 11-13, 1975, Pisa, Italy [doi>10.1145/800117.803784]
• Di70: Dijkstra, E.W., NOTES ON STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING, 1970.
• Eu85: Edward V. Eusebi, Operators for program control, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.15 n.4, p.181-189, May 12, 1985
• GH76: W. K. Giloi , R. Hoffmann, Adding a modern control structure to APL without changing the syntax, Proceedings of the eighth international conference on APL, p.189-194, September 22-24, 1976, Ottawa, Canada [doi>10.1145/800114.803676]
• KR78: B. W. Kernighan , D. M. Ritchie, The C programming language, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1978
• RB90: Jack G. Rudd , James A. Brown, Toward a common prototyping language, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.20 n.4, p.322-330, July 1990
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• VB90: Visual Basic Language Reference Manual, Microsoft Corporation.

INDEX TERMS

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

          Nouns: APL

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.3 Language Constructs and Features
          Subjects: Procedures, functions, and subroutines; Control structures

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Languages, Performance