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by 7thaccount 725 days ago
I'd bet money that I could figure out what this code is doing easier than the equivalent in Python, which is my daily driver. You just need to look up the symbols and piece it together. Yes, that takes an extra step, but so did learning any new language. Also, I can see all of this in one spot.
1 comments

The value of being able to see the entire implementation of a nontrivial program at once cannot be overstated. This is the real magic of APLs: no unnecessary abstraction, boilerplate, or structural fluff, just algorithms composed from general high-level building-blocks.
The right level of abstraction is key. If your problem maps neatly to the primitives offered by APL, then the code will be readable idiomatic APL. If, however, they don’t, and you are using the APL abstractions in ways they were not intended to, and you are building new abstractions on top of them, then you’ll need to be a skilled programmer to keep it readable.