APL is an acronym for "A Programming Language." APL is used over a wide range of applications, varying from testing of prototypes, to administrative activities, to diverse scientific tasks. Kenneth Iverson designed the general-purpose language in the 1960s. Iverson's original intent in developing APL was not to create a programming language, but rather to create a mathematical means of describing how computers are assembled and operate. As the APL initiative grew, Iverson was joined by Adin Falkoff, Larry Breed and Philip Abrahams, who took on the task of using their mathematical notation as a programming language. Whereas many computer languages began as tools for specifying machine instructions in a system-dependent manner that attempts to mesh the language with the technology, APL's mathematical derivation was unfettered by computer hardware.

The group's efforts culminated in the release of the APL computer programming language in 1966. Thus, APL is an old computer...