Associative Programming Language
The Associative Programming Language (APL) is a database language developed by General Motors Research Laboratories in 1966.[1]
APL was developed to provide high-level language data access and manipulation functions to support GM's CADANCE interactive computer graphics system. It was designed to integrate with PL/I.[2][3]
Description
APL consists of six statements, CREATE, INSERT, FIND, FOR EACH, REMOVE, and DELETE,[1]: p.85 and miscellaneous functions such as counting the number of members in a set, determining the length or type of an entity, or locating an entity by name.[1]: p.95 . The underlying database is assumed to follow the network model. GM's first database manager was implemented via linked list, but in 1977 the "Virtual Associative Access Manager" {VAAM) was developed to use virtual storage and implementing entity relationships as arrays.[1]: p.86 . APL was later ported to the MCTS operating system.
Implementation
APL statements were implemented as PL/I preprocessor macros, which translated into calls to the database manager. Later GM's Apple PL/I dialect supported APL directly in the language.
References
- ^ a b c d Price, Carol (1978), "APL/VAAM" (PDF), NASA Conference Publication 2055: Engineering and Scientific Data Management, NASA, pp. 85–97
- ^ Bachman, Charles. "An interview with Charles W. Bachman". ACM Digital Library. Retrieved June 29, 2024."George [Dodd] built a very attractive IDS like system, called 'Associative Programming Language' (APL)"
- ^ Dodd, George G. (November 1966). "APL—A Language for Associative Data Handling in PL/I". AFIPS '66 (Fall): Proceedings of the November 7–10, 1966, fall joint computer conference: 677–684. doi:10.1145/1464291.146436. Retrieved July 2, 2024.