Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl
Path: watmath!watserv2.uwaterloo.ca!torn!utnut!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!portal!quadsys!roland
From: roland@quadsys.com (Roland Besserer)
Subject: Re: mini-rev "APL  A Design Handbook for Commercial Systems"
Message-ID: <C49BG2.81@quadsys.com>
Organization: QUAD Systems
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
References: <1993Mar19.092503.9030@ips.cs.tu-bs.de>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1993 20:55:14 GMT
Lines: 39

neitzel@ips.cs.tu-bs.de (Martin Neitzel) writes:
: 
: You should have a look into
: 
: 	Adrian Smith:
: 	"APL   A Design Handbook for Commercial Systems"
: 	(Wiley series in information processing)
: 	Wiley & Sons, 1982
: 	ISBN 0-471-10092-7
: 
: 
: A fine book, talking much about using APL as a useful tool to get
: real work done.  It talks a lot about the inherently ever-changing nature
: of many settings, that old-style software development cycles are not
: the adaequate method in these cases, and that an approach using a
: funny Greek language that executes backwards might help here.
: 
: It is directed both at managers ("Why does it make sense to use APL?")
: and at programmers ("How do I tackle this problem with APL?").
: It concentrates on software design with APL and introduces the language
: only as far as is needed for this purpose.  One does not need to know
: APL before reading the book and will get the message nevertheless.
: That doesn't mean the book avoids to show any real code - you'll find
: lots of real-life's problems and APL code to solve them.  There is
: even a idiom list.
: 

I've had this book for 8 years and it has been the most useful book
on APL. I have used many of the concepts and code segements from the
book implementing commercial APL software from accounting systems to
real-time alarm monitoring software (real-time components are, naturally,
implemented in 'C' and assembler).

I highly recommend it for anyone involved in programming commercial
grade/type code in APL
-- 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Besserer          QUAD Systems, Santa Cruz             roland@quadsys.com
