The programming language APL is distinctive in being symbolic rather than lexical: its primitives are denoted by symbols, not words. These symbols were originally devised as a mathematical notation to describe algorithms. [1]

APL (named after the book A Programming Language) [3] is a programming language developed in the 1960s by Kenneth E. Iverson. Its central datatype is the multidimensional array. It uses a large range of special graphic symbols [4] to represent most functions and operators, leading to very concise code.

APL's syntax refers to the way programs are written—the arrangement of functions and arrays, along with other values, keywords, and punctuation—in contrast to its semantics, that is, the meaning of the actual operations performed.

APL is an array language, and one of the oldest programming languages still in use today, next to FORTRAN, Lisp and COBOL. APL uses its own curious-looking symbols, like ⍎⌽⍕⌈* ≡⍬, rather than reserved words written out in English like most other languages, like C or Python.

This page contains examples that show APL's strengths. The examples require minimal background and have no special dependencies. If these examples are too simple for you, have a look at our advanced examples .

APL is a high-level, general-purpose, intuitive programming language which is designed to be easy on the programmer and hard on the computer - through power, not inefficiency. APL has its own special character set of around 200 alphabetic characters and symbols.

The syntax of most programming languages is restricted to the ASCII character set, which was originally designed for use in commercial data processing with very limited hardware, and which lacks even a basic multiply symbol.

The features and constructs of this language are minimal and mainly intended for testing an experimental operating system. The compiler of APL runs on XSM (eXperimental String Machine) architecture. This document describes the programming constructs, syntax and semantics of APL.

APL is an array-oriented programming language. Its natural, concise syntax lets you develop shorter programs while thinking more about the problem you're trying to solve than how to express it to a computer.

APL is an array-oriented programming language that will change the way you think about problems and data. With a powerful, concise syntax, it lets you develop shorter programs that enable you to think more about the problem you're trying …