APL: Difference between revisions
(Language, character set, fonts, keyboards, usage) |
(APL characters and Unicode blocks) |
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APL is a programming language with its own special character set combining Greek letters, math symbols, and more. |
APL is a programming language with its own special character set combining Greek letters, math symbols, and more. Its characters do not have a Unicode block of their own, but are scattered widely. Here are the APL characters included in Unicode, with their Unicode block names. |
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A-Z, 0-9, !?()[]',.:/\-_ (ASCII) |
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¨¯ (Latin-1) |
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αειρω (Greek) |
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←↑→↓ (Arrows) |
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+<=>×÷∆∇∗∘∣∧∨∩∪∼⊂⊃⊢⊣⊤⊥ (Math) |
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⌶⌷⌸⌹⌺⌻⌼⌽⌾⌿⍀⍁⍂⍃⍄⍅⍆⍈⍉⍊⍋⍌⍎⍏⍐⍑⍒⍓⍔⍕⍖⍗ (Miscellaneous Technical Symbols) |
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⍘⍙⍚⍛⍜⍝⍞⍟⍠⍡⍢⍣⍤⍥⍦⍧⍨⍩⍪⍫⍬⍭⍮⍯⍰⍱⍲⍶⍷⍸⍹ (Miscellaneous Technical Symbols) |
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◇ (Block Elements & Geometric Shapes) |
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A number of APL characters were originally produced by overstriking characters from the base set (originally 88 characters on Selectric typeballs, later extended to 95 in the APL-ASCII overlay mappings). In later APL software, there is support for typing the previously overstruck characters as single characters, typically using the Control or Alt key as a modifier. All APL symbols are included in Unicode, but not in a single block. |
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The A+ dialect of APL is available in most Linux distributions. It includes its own APL font. |
The A+ dialect of APL is available in most Linux distributions. It includes its own APL font. |
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Revision as of 04:21, 16 August 2006
APL is a programming language with its own special character set combining Greek letters, math symbols, and more. Its characters do not have a Unicode block of their own, but are scattered widely. Here are the APL characters included in Unicode, with their Unicode block names.
A-Z, 0-9, !?()[]',.:/\-_ (ASCII) ¨¯ (Latin-1) αειρω (Greek) ←↑→↓ (Arrows) +<=>×÷∆∇∗∘∣∧∨∩∪∼⊂⊃⊢⊣⊤⊥ (Math) ⌶⌷⌸⌹⌺⌻⌼⌽⌾⌿⍀⍁⍂⍃⍄⍅⍆⍈⍉⍊⍋⍌⍎⍏⍐⍑⍒⍓⍔⍕⍖⍗ (Miscellaneous Technical Symbols) ⍘⍙⍚⍛⍜⍝⍞⍟⍠⍡⍢⍣⍤⍥⍦⍧⍨⍩⍪⍫⍬⍭⍮⍯⍰⍱⍲⍶⍷⍸⍹ (Miscellaneous Technical Symbols) ◇ (Block Elements & Geometric Shapes)
A number of APL characters were originally produced by overstriking characters from the base set (originally 88 characters on Selectric typeballs, later extended to 95 in the APL-ASCII overlay mappings). In later APL software, there is support for typing the previously overstruck characters as single characters, typically using the Control or Alt key as a modifier. All APL symbols are included in Unicode, but not in a single block.
The A+ dialect of APL is available in most Linux distributions. It includes its own APL font.
There is no complete standard APL keyboard. Most vendors use either the typewriter-paired or bit-paired overlay layout for the basic symbols, but there is no agreement whatever on the locations of any composite symbols that are provided without overstriking.
APL is a highly mathematical language, which gives it limited appeal in spite of its power. It has been applied to almost everything in computing except writing device drivers.