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APL demonstration 1975

Imperial College London · demo · Watch on YouTube

History of computingProgramming language design

What it is

A 1975 live demonstration of the APL language by Imperial College professor Bob Spence, showing a REPL on a modified typewriter terminal and APL's appeal to non-programmers.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Recommended as a charming, from-zero introduction to APL and a window into early interactive computing.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 4 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2014, last 2021

What HN commenters said

  1. “This is a nice introduction into APL”

    Nice introduction to APL.

    progman, 2014-11 · Recommendation · in “J for C Programmers”

  2. “I think this is a good youtube video for someone starting from zero”

    Good starting video for APL beginners.

    cgrubb, 2017-03 · Recommendation · in “GNU APL 1.7 Released”

  3. “I love it!”

    Charming original 1975 APL demonstration.

    curiousgal, 2019-08 · Recommendation · in “J can look like APL or English”

  4. “Half-hour intro showing APL's motivation for non-programmer users.”

    hhas01, 2019-08 · Recommendation · in “A+, the Programming Language of Morgan Stanley”

  5. “it's held a total mystique to me since seeing this video circa 1975”

    REPL on a Selectric teletype upended view of computer history.

    jazzyjackson, 2021-11 · Recommendation · in “IBM unveils 127-qubit quantum processor”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: apl, array languages, computing history, repl, 1975

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