APL (programming language)
![Promotional material for APL from 1976](/Images/godic/202501/10/I_like_APL_graphic4939.jpg")
![IBM typeballs (one OCR) with clip, €2 coin for scale](/Images/godic/202501/10/IBM_Selectric_Globe_Wiki4939.jpg")
![A programmer's view of the IBM 2741 keyboard layout with the APL typeball print head inserted](/Images/godic/202501/10/APL-keybd2.svg4939.png")
APL (named after the book A Programming Language) is a programming language developed in the 1960s by Kenneth E. Iverson. Its central datatype is the multidimensional array. It uses a large range of special graphic symbols to represent most functions and operators, leading to very concise code. It has been an important influence on the development of concept modeling, spreadsheets, functional programming, and computer math packages. It has also inspired several other programming languages. It is still used today for certain applications.