APL Programming Language       

Programming Languages Accomplishment | 1962

IBM researcher: Kenneth Iverson

Where the work was done: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

What we accomplished: Iverson (pictured) developed APL, a programming language based on a distinctive mathematical notation for array. From computerhistory.org: "This novel approach required special characters for each operator but resulted in very compact, yet powerful programs. A common game was to accomplish a task with as few characters as possible, resulting in some clever, but hard to decipher programs."

Related links: APL Wikipedia Entry

Image credit: Computer History Museum

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