Character Set
APL has always been criticized for its choice of a unique, non-standard character set. Some who learn it become ardent adherents, suggesting that there is some weight behind Iverson's idea that the notation used does make a difference. In the beginning, there were few terminal devices that could reproduce the APL character set—the most popular ones employing the IBM Selectric print mechanism along with a special APL type element. Over time, with the universal use of high-quality graphic display, printing devices and Unicode support, the APL character font problem has largely been eliminated; however, the problem of entering APL characters requires the use of input method editors or special keyboard mappings, which may frustrate beginners accustomed to other programming languages.
Read more about this topic: APL (programming Language)
Famous quotes containing the words character and/or set:
“Consider the difference between looking and staring. A look is voluntary; it is also mobile, rising and falling in intensity as its foci of interest are taken up and then exhausted. A stare has, essentially, the character of a compulsion; it is steady, unmodulated, “fixed.””
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Some people appear to be more meager in talent than they are, just because the tasks they set themselves are always too great.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)