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Thinking in an array language (2022)

98 points by tosh

by tomhow

0 subcomment

Previously:
Thinking in an array language (2022) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38981639 - Jan 2024 (152 comments)
Thinking in an array language - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31377262 - May 2022 (66 comments)

by 2pEXgD0fZ5cF

5 subcomments

Giving APL a quick glance I find the topic at least intriguing.
So if I understand this right K is one of the more popular/recommended APL-derivatives nowadays. K is proprietary but there are a bunch of compatible implementations which are themselves open source. Is that correct?
Which APL derivatives (with an active/healthy userbase) besides k would you recommend to take a closer look at?

by PufPufPuf

3 subcomments

Are there any open-source software projects written in an array language? I've only ever seen short code examples and heard of fables that "K powers the world's financial systems". I want to see a "real-world" codebase.

by IshKebab

3 subcomments

I still haven't used K/Q/etc. because they look insane, but the more I read about them the more it seems like they are basically the maths equivalent of regexes. Super terse and powerful. Pretty much write-only. Very useful for interactive use, definitely. But if you find yourself hitting "save" on a regex that's a red flag and if most of your program relies on regexes something has gone very wrong.