Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl
Path: watmath!watserv2.uwaterloo.ca!torn!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!ames!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!csi!sam
From: sam@csi.jpl.nasa.gov (Sam Sirlin)
Subject: Re: Promoting APL2
Message-ID: <1992Aug13.171145.24691@csi.jpl.nasa.gov>
Originator: sam@kalessin
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Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
References:  <168417F7D.JOHNSON2@vm.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 17:11:45 GMT
Lines: 59


In article <168417F7D.JOHNSON2@vm.cc.purdue.edu>, JOHNSON@vm.cc.purdue.edu writes:
|> Several of us in the Computing Center at Purdue are interested in promoting
|> the use of APL2. It seems as though a language of APL's power and flexibility
|> should be more widely used at a large research university like Purdue.
|>  
|> We currently have IBM's APL2 Version 2 Release 1 installed on our IBM 3090.
...
|> We are interested in any help (or brickbats) you might provide on this
|> subject. Do you have any suggestions on how to encourage APL use in an
|> academic environment? How are you using APL in your teaching or research?
|> Do you know of APL workspaces that would be available in the public domain
|> or for sale that might encourage APL usage? Do you think the mainframe is an
|> appropriate platform today on which to encourage APL use?

I don't know what would end up being most popular, but for me there
are a few neccessities:

1. linear algebra - as much of eispack/linpack/lapack as you can get.
Perhaps you could link them in via some sort of quad na? I've
translated the qr and qz eigensystem paths into APL if you want them.
I have them in readable ASCII form.

2. ode solvers - the more the better. Some sort of rk45 for example.
This also needs to include random colored noise generators (for
example the OU of ACSL). A stiff method would be nice.

3. graphics - I've never been happy with what I've found, but you
should have lots of options. Obviously they should be able to generate
encapsulated postscript output for inclusion in TeX documents (does
this work on IBM's?). Contour Plots and 3D plots would be nice. They
should be simple to use.

4. random number generators - for the various processes. At least
Gaussian and Poisson.

5. integration methods - I don't really need to much here, trapezoidal
rules and Simpson seem to work. 

6. special functions - Bessel, erf, etc.

7. controls analysis - frequency response calulation etc. Well that's
what I want anyway... 

8. data translation - functions for reading/writing data from/for
other languages (fortran). This also includes text manipulation - one
of APL's strong points since (at least STSC/J) can read exactly what's
in a file.

I've written/translated (or at least heavily modified existing code
for) all of the above areas, which should give you some idea of how
much code sharing goes on in APL...

Some examples to consider: Matlab, Mathematica

-- 
Sam Sirlin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory         sam@kalessin.jpl.nasa.gov

