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Thinking in Array Languages with Alex Shroyer

Software Unscripted

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The Importance of Notation in Programming

Ken Iverson developed APL as a notation for writing math, not as a programming language. He was really concerned with how mathematicians were trying to communicate their ideas to each other. So things like ceiling and floor symbols in mathematics, like in LaTeX? Oh, well, they're kind of like these angles worth... Yeah, right,. That came from Iverson being like frustrated with mathematicians at the time, all coming up with their own way of saying ceiling and floor. And at first it was just this written notation for blackboards, and then at some point, some people decided to try to turn it into a computer language. Then there was a executable mathematical notation.

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