Top all-time · #2703
Stefan Kruger
Personal blog · xpqz.github.io · on HN as skrugerprogrammingmath
Stefan Kruger's personal blog at xpqz.github.io covers programming and math. Since 2021, 17 different Hacker News readers have linked it 51 times, most often “Learning APL”. The last post was in 2023, but the archive is still widely read.
Computational Array and Magic
Most-linked posts?
- Learning APL11 people · 13 mentions · first linked 2021-08-06
- What about K?4 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2022-05-30
- APL Cultivations3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2024-10-24
- Converge2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-09-15
What Hacker News says?
Anyone interested in learning APL, I can recommend https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl Disclaimer: I'm the author
Comment linking /learnapl
on “Weird Languages”Submitted What about K? as a story · 206 points
HN discussionAPL is the perfect mind blower: https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl/intro.html
Comment linking /learnapl/intro.html
on “Programming languages that blew my mind (2023)”Submitted Learning APL as a story · 199 points
HN discussionShould you ever decide to take that leap, maybe start here: https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl (disclosure: author)
Comment linking /learnapl
on “Notation as a Tool of Thought (1979)”Submitted APL Cultivations as a story · 11 points
HN discussionFor people discovering k for the first time, I wrote https://xpqz.github.io/kbook as a gentle intro.
Comment linking /kbook
on “K/simple: a tiny K interpreter for educational purposes by Arthur Whitney”Submitted Learning APL as a story · 4 points
HN discussionI wrote an intro to APL as a jupyterbook and found it an excellent tool for the job https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl
Comment linking /learnapl
on “Jupyter Book”Submitted Learning APL as a story · 3 points
HN discussionDepends. APL is the OG. Try a few and see what you like. If you learn one Iverson language, it's pretty easy picking up the others. Here's a gentle guide to APL by the same author (me): https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl/ Dyalog APL is likely the best supported in terms of tooling, debugging etc. If you're looking for static typing, you're in the wrong place.
Comment linking /learnapl/
on “What about K?”Submitted Learning APL as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThere are a lot of comments of the type "it's unreadable/write-only/unmaintainable" here. It's a natural reaction; I know, I was there. It looks different. But readability is in the eyes of the beholder, not the language. I made this point in my APL book ( https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl ) -- just because I can't read Japanese does not make Japanese unreadable. Since I wrote that book, I've spent a few years immersi…
Comment linking /cultivations
on “APL deserves its renaissance too (2018)”Submitted Learning APL as a story · 2 points
HN discussionIf you haven't seen it, I wrote an intro to modern APL you might enjoy if you're starting out: https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl
Comment linking /learnapl
on “Notation as a Tool of Thought (1979)”Submitted Converge as a story · 2 points
HN discussionStart here: https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl or here: https://xpqz.github.io/kbook
Comment linking /kbook
on “Zoo of array languages”Submitted APL Cultivations as a story · 1 points
HN discussion>What's a good place to start for languages like this? I recommend: https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl/intro.html#but-it-s-unreadab... (for apl) and https://xpqz.github.io/kbook/Introduction.html (for k) ... the author admits they are not an expert in either, but the pace and tone are very beginner friendly, which I have found is necessary if you do not have any experience in array languages.
Comment linking /kbook/Introduction.html
on “k on pdp11”Submitted APL Cultivations as a story · 1 points
HN discussionHere is a gentle start: https://xpqz.github.io/kbook/Introduction.html
Comment linking /kbook/Introduction.html
on “Klong: A Simple Array Language”Submitted What about K? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThis isn't extreme enough. We need to use APL specific keyboards and write in APL for maximum clarity https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl/intro.html
Comment linking /learnapl/intro.html
on “Code Generation in Rust vs. C++26”Submitted Learning APL as a story · 1 points
HN discussionIf anyone is looking for some additional docs for ngn/k, I’ve written https://xpqz.github.io/kbook
Comment linking /kbook
on “K – A simple, fast vector programming language”IMO, readability is simply a misnomer for familiarity, and - for example - a pythoner feels more comfortable reading java than APL purely because it's more regular. In fact, APL/J/K are simpler to read than most languages![1] Programs consist of functions and higher-order functions that are applied to array(s) in an infix or prefix style. These are evaluated Right-To-Left with minimal precedence rules. Given a few d…
Comment linking /learnapl/intro.html
on “K – A simple, fast vector programming language”If you’re interested in learning APL, I wrote an intro for people coming from another language: https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl
Comment linking /learnapl
on “APL Demonstration (1975) [video]”I’ve written a gentle intro to APL for experienced programmers if you’re interested in making it a bit less incomprehensible: https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl
Comment linking /learnapl
on “Concatenation is composition”I’ve written a few things on APL and K for the learner. Links here: https://xpqz.github.io/about/
Comment linking /about/
on “Conway's Game of Life in APL in Forth”Try “Learning APL” —- https://xpqz.github.io/learnapl Disclaimer: I’m the author
Comment linking /learnapl
on “Conway's Game of Life in APL in Forth”