Dyalog Ltd.: Difference between revisions

From APL Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Miraheze>Adám Brudzewsky
No edit summary
Miraheze>Marshall
(→‎Early history: Info from Donnelly's "A Personal History...")
Line 2: Line 2:
'''Dyalog Ltd.''' (originally Dyadic Systems Ltd.) is a British firm which specialises in APL products, especially developing [[Dyalog APL]] and providing consultancy services to Dyalog APL users.
'''Dyalog Ltd.''' (originally Dyadic Systems Ltd.) is a British firm which specialises in APL products, especially developing [[Dyalog APL]] and providing consultancy services to Dyalog APL users.


== Early history ==
== History ==
Dyadic Systems was formed in 1976 by a breakaway group of APL consultants
from Atkins Computing (a time-sharing bureau) that had been working on their [[Sigma APL]] processor. They provided independent design and development services unaffiliated with any specific vendor. The steadily growing group of
analysts gained a broad collective experience over numerous flavours of APL.
While the emphasis remained with [[SHARP APL]], [[APL*PLUS]] and Sigma APL, they
also worked with APLs from IBM, DEC, Honeywell, Burroughs and others. There
was also work in other languages. IBM was promoting [[VSAPL]] as its primary personal and departmental computing platform; this was a potential source of further demand for consulting. However, there was the nascent market for personal
computers.


In principle, Dyadic, with no time-sharing business to manage, could simply switch
=== Dyadic Systems consulting ===
horses and write APL programs for PCs. But there were few PCs with APL about.
One was the rather quirky MCM micro, whose APL interpreter was
in firmware. It had an idiosyncratic reverse implementation of the [[scan]]
operator and limited the size of arrays to 255 elements along each [[axis]]. It
provided the facilities to generate a GUI interface, at least in providing
form-based input and output, but was slow.
More substantial APLs had been implemented for the IBM 5110 and for the Motorola 68000 chip, available as Wicat computers. Even Bill Gates of Microsoft contemplated writing one, and talk to Ian Sharp of [[I.P. Sharp Associates]] about a reduced APL – how little one could get away with, but the project was cancelled before a product was released.


Zilog UK wanted an APL for the Z8000, since the Swedish Ministry of Defence, in a call for tenders
Dyadic Systems was formed in 1976 by Ted Hare, Phil Goacher, and David Crossley, a breakaway group of APL consultants from time-sharing bureau W.S. Atkins Computing. The group had been working on the [[Sigma APL]] processor, and was joined by other Atkins employees including [[Geoff Streeter]] and John Stembridge. Dyadic provided independent design and development services unaffiliated with any specific vendor. The steadily growing group of analysts gained a broad collective experience over numerous flavours of APL. While the emphasis remained with [[SHARP APL]], [[APL*PLUS]] and Sigma APL, they also worked with APLs from IBM, DEC, Honeywell, Burroughs, and others, in addition to some non-APL languages. IBM was promoting [[VSAPL]] as its primary personal and departmental computing platform; this was a potential source of further demand for consulting.
from Unix suppliers, had listed APL as a software requirement. They provided Dyadic a
 
dedicated Z8000 minicomputer and generous development facilities.
During this period Dyadic hired [[Pauline Brand]] and [[Pete Donnelly]].
 
=== Dyalog APL ===
 
The market for personal computers was quickly growing at the beginning of the 1980s. As a consulting rather than a timesharing business, Dyadic was not tied to the mainframe model, but was hindered by the small number of APL implementations for PC. One such implementation was in the firmware of the MCM micro. It had an idiosyncratic reverse implementation of the [[scan]] operator and limited the size of arrays to 255 elements along each [[axis]]. It provided the facilities to generate a GUI interface, at least in providing form-based input and output, but was slow. More substantial APLs had been implemented for the IBM 5110 and for the Motorola 68000 chip, available as Wicat computers. Even Bill Gates of Microsoft contemplated writing one, and talk to Ian Sharp of [[I.P. Sharp Associates]] about a reduced APL–how little one could get away with, but the project was cancelled before a product was released.
 
Dyadic Systems met with Zilog UK regarding the upcoming System 8000, or Z8000, microcomputer in 1981. Zilog wanted an APL for the Z8000, since the Swedish Ministry of Defence, in a call for tenders from Unix suppliers, had listed APL as a software requirement.


Dyalog (Europe) Ltd. was registered for this purpose in 1981. The new company blended both names, as mentioned in the press release:
Dyalog (Europe) Ltd. was registered for this purpose in 1981. The new company blended both names, as mentioned in the press release:
Line 29: Line 21:
the name Dyalog being a hybrid derived from Dyadic and Zilog.
the name Dyalog being a hybrid derived from Dyadic and Zilog.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
The “Marketing
The “Marketing Strategy” paper read:
Strategy” paper read:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Our plan is to develop a low-price:
Our plan is to develop a low-price:
Line 37: Line 28:
* Under an industry-standard operating system (UNIX)
* Under an industry-standard operating system (UNIX)
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
Zilog provided Dyadic a dedicated Z8000 minicomputer and generous development facilities to develop Dyalog. Dyadic hired [[John Scholes]], another former Atkins employee who had previously left to work as a developer on another APL implementation (for the ICL 2900) as designer and chief programmer for the project. [[Geoff Streeter]] and David Crossley joined Scholes as Dyalog implementors.
The choice to implement Dyalog in C on a UNIX system would later enable Dyalog APL to be ported to many other systems. The choice to make Dyalog a [[Nested array model|nested]] APL like [[NARS]] and the in-process [[APL2]] would also have a major effect on Dyalog's development as a company.


== External links ==
== External links ==

Revision as of 16:52, 18 November 2019

Dyalog's head office

Dyalog Ltd. (originally Dyadic Systems Ltd.) is a British firm which specialises in APL products, especially developing Dyalog APL and providing consultancy services to Dyalog APL users.

History

Dyadic Systems consulting

Dyadic Systems was formed in 1976 by Ted Hare, Phil Goacher, and David Crossley, a breakaway group of APL consultants from time-sharing bureau W.S. Atkins Computing. The group had been working on the Sigma APL processor, and was joined by other Atkins employees including Geoff Streeter and John Stembridge. Dyadic provided independent design and development services unaffiliated with any specific vendor. The steadily growing group of analysts gained a broad collective experience over numerous flavours of APL. While the emphasis remained with SHARP APL, APL*PLUS and Sigma APL, they also worked with APLs from IBM, DEC, Honeywell, Burroughs, and others, in addition to some non-APL languages. IBM was promoting VSAPL as its primary personal and departmental computing platform; this was a potential source of further demand for consulting.

During this period Dyadic hired Pauline Brand and Pete Donnelly.

Dyalog APL

The market for personal computers was quickly growing at the beginning of the 1980s. As a consulting rather than a timesharing business, Dyadic was not tied to the mainframe model, but was hindered by the small number of APL implementations for PC. One such implementation was in the firmware of the MCM micro. It had an idiosyncratic reverse implementation of the scan operator and limited the size of arrays to 255 elements along each axis. It provided the facilities to generate a GUI interface, at least in providing form-based input and output, but was slow. More substantial APLs had been implemented for the IBM 5110 and for the Motorola 68000 chip, available as Wicat computers. Even Bill Gates of Microsoft contemplated writing one, and talk to Ian Sharp of I.P. Sharp Associates about a reduced APL–how little one could get away with, but the project was cancelled before a product was released.

Dyadic Systems met with Zilog UK regarding the upcoming System 8000, or Z8000, microcomputer in 1981. Zilog wanted an APL for the Z8000, since the Swedish Ministry of Defence, in a call for tenders from Unix suppliers, had listed APL as a software requirement.

Dyalog (Europe) Ltd. was registered for this purpose in 1981. The new company blended both names, as mentioned in the press release:

This company is DYALOG (EUROPE) LIMITED, the name Dyalog being a hybrid derived from Dyadic and Zilog.

The “Marketing Strategy” paper read:

Our plan is to develop a low-price:

  • Industry-standard APL interpreter (Sharp look-alike but more comprehensive)
  • Running on an industry-standard 16-bit chip (Z8000)
  • Under an industry-standard operating system (UNIX)

Zilog provided Dyadic a dedicated Z8000 minicomputer and generous development facilities to develop Dyalog. Dyadic hired John Scholes, another former Atkins employee who had previously left to work as a developer on another APL implementation (for the ICL 2900) as designer and chief programmer for the project. Geoff Streeter and David Crossley joined Scholes as Dyalog implementors.

The choice to implement Dyalog in C on a UNIX system would later enable Dyalog APL to be ported to many other systems. The choice to make Dyalog a nested APL like NARS and the in-process APL2 would also have a major effect on Dyalog's development as a company.

External links

Websites

Events

Dyalog arranges multiple recurring events:

Social media

Functional programming conferences

For several years in a row, Dyalog has continuously been presenting at these:


APL community [edit]
Conferences and activities Advent of CodeAPL CampfireAPL CultivationAPL Meetup (Portuguese) ∙ APL ShowAPL Problem Solving CompetitionAPL ChallengeAPL QuestAPL SeedsArray CastBAA sessionsCode golfDyalog user meetingsDyalog webinarsIverson Award
Chat rooms and forums APL FarmAPL Orchard
User groups APL et J (France) ∙ APL Germany (terminology) ∙ APL ∊ BCN (Spain) ∙ BAA (UK) ∙ FinnAPL (Finland) ∙ SIGAPL (USA) ∙ Tokyo APL/J/K Meetup (Japan)
People Phil AbramsBrian BeckerBob BerneckyLarry BreedCharles BrennerJim BrownAdám BrudzewskyGitte ChristensenPeter DonnellyJohn EarnestAdin FalkoffGarth FosterLib GibsonAaron HsuRoger HuiKen IversonMorten KrombergDick LathwellMarshall LochbaumEugene McDonnellRoger MooreTrenchard MoreAlan PerlisHenry RichAl RoseJohn ScholesIan SharpBob SmithGeoff StreeterArthur Whitney
Other APL Quote QuadAPL WikiBlogsBooksCase studiesFamous APL usersHumourJobsMerchandisePapersPodcastsTryAPLTry It OnlineVideo channels