APL deserves its renaissance too
Neat little tribute article.<p>APL will not be reborn. If that was going to happen, this century's embrace of analytics and linear-algebra-rich machine learning would have propelled the upswell. It didn't and it won't.<p>Why? It's not the symbols. Not the keyboard. Nor the learning curve. Nor the lack of standardization, libraries, or GPU support. These are collateral damage, not primary drivers.<p>APL will not flourish because it is effectively a DSL with archaic I/O capability. It is a nearly-pure functional programming language. It's primary domain is mathematics. Native GUIs, networking, the web -- all uncompetitive add-ons.<p>In this sense, APL and Haskell share some DNA.<p>For dynamic systems modeling for my thesis, I reached for APL and Matlab. I still code Dyalog APL for recreation. Love it. But I wouldn't build a web app with it and a wouldn't run my company on it.