Dijkstra's 1981 Letter Critiquing the APL Programming Language
By
tosh
Pure flour-power. Hearty enough to carry you through lunch.
Summary
This article presents a transcribed letter from computer scientist Edsger W. Dijkstra about the APL programming language, written in 1981. The letter discusses Dijkstra's critical views on APL, describing it as having a "cult" following, and reflects on programming language design philosophy. The article includes acknowledgments and context around how the letter was obtained.
Key quotes
· 2 pulledThank you for your letter dated 31 May (?) 1981. You were right in your reference to an APL 'cult': some adore...
I would like to thank Bob Bernecky, Nicolas Delcros, Jay Foad, and Eric Iverson for comments on the manuscript.
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