Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl
Path: watmath!watserv2.uwaterloo.ca!mach1!torn!spool.mu.edu!yale.edu!ira.uka.de!Sirius.dfn.de!tubsibr!infbssys!neitzel
From: neitzel@ips.cs.tu-bs.de (Martin Neitzel)
Subject: Re: quote on APL interpreted
Message-ID: <1993Jan28.154714.9014@ips.cs.tu-bs.de>
Summary:  How about this one as a substitute?
Sender: neitzel@ips.cs.tu-bs.de (Martin Neitzel)
Organization: Inst. f. Informatik, TU Braunschweig, FRG
References: <1993Jan22.173012.1749@yrloc.ipsa.reuter.COM>
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 15:47:14 GMT
Lines: 37


>  "APL is a mistake carried out to perfection."

Yes, I can definitely remember such a wording.  However, I'd also give
Alan Perlis a chance to be its author, but I'm unable to locate his
old SIGPLAN Notices Article "Epigrams on Programming" to check it out.

I hunted for the quote in HOPL-1 and the 1966-86 ACM Turing Award
Lectures but didn't find it.  But perhaps someone can enjoy the
following quote.

	E.W. Dijkstra, "The Humble Programmer" (1972 Turing
	Award Lecture):

	``[...]  In the case of a well-known conversational
	programming language I have been told from various
	sides that as soon as a programming community is
	equipped with a terminal for it, a specific
	phenomenon occurs that has a well-established name:
	it is called "the one-liners."  It takes one of two
	different forms: one programmmer places a one-line
	program on the desk of another and either he proudly
	tells what it does and adds the questions, "Can you
	code this in less symbols?" -- as if this were of
	any conceptual relevance! -- or he just says, "Guess
	what it does!"  From this observation we must
	conclude that this language as a tool is an open
	invitation for clever tricks; and while exactly this
	may be the explanation for some of its appeal, viz.
	to those who like to show how clever they are, I am
	sorry, but I must regard this as one of the most
	damning things that can be said about a programming
	language.  [...]''

K.E. Iverson got his Turing Award seven years later, nevertheless.

-- Martin Neitzel (born 1963, too young to know REAL quotes).
