On Wednesday, 13 January 1999,
     DAVID NOON wrote to IVAN TODOROSKI about APL2 for OS/2

IT>>  OK guys, PL/I, APL? You got me interested! During this short period of
IT>>  participating in this echo, I can see that you're very knowledgeable
IT>>  people, and I'm sure you have some great reasons for using these
IT>>  languages.

 DN> In my case, getting paid.

  :) Well I guess that's a reason enough...

  But apart from that, do you actually LIKE PL/I, do you think it's a
  good language? What language do you prefer and use most in your day
  to day programming?

IT>>  I've never seen those languages, and they have most probably been
IT>>  created before I was born (1977). What ARE those languages exactly?

 DN> PL/I was developed during the mid-to-late 1960's as the successor
 DN> to FORTRAN IV (one of its working titles was FORTRAN 5) with all

  [..]

 I thank you very much for all the above explanations! It totally
 cleared things up for me. I think I'm gonna like PL/I, and that APL
 sounds quite interesting too... I don't know if it has any great
 practical use for everyday programming, but it sure can find it's place
 in scientific computing.

 I like the automatic storage management in APL, and also PL/I's "rich
 grammar with which you can do almost anything" sounds like my kind of
 language!


IT>>  (or something to that effect) in your copy of "PL/I
Personal Edition"?
IT>>  If so, could you zip it up and attach it via email?

 DN> There is a language reference manual in .INF format.

  So, would you care to attach it to grnch{at}eon.pmf.ukim.edu.mk, or is it
  illegal or something?

  I would like to look at it a little before deciding to splash out 200
  bucks for it (I'm just a student you see :). Anyway, I may even not
  buy it myself, if I can persuade some guys from my university to buy
  it on university's expense for "educational purposes" ;)

 DN> The PL/I Personal Edition apparently can be found by enquiring on the
 DN> Internet at: [Mike Ruskai was also after this]

 DN>   help{at}releasesoft.com

 DN> The pricing should be about US$200, if previous versions are any guide.

  And what about APL? Is it abandoned?

                                                            - Ivan -

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