you.com

[kai]

I just asked youchat (a chatGPT competitor) "What is APL?" and got this:

APL is a programming language developed in the 1960s by Kenneth E [1]. Iverson. Its central datatype is the multidimensional array [1]. It uses a large range of symbols to represent operations, and its syntax is designed to minimize the number of keystrokes required to express a given operation. APL is known for its concise and powerful capabilities, and is used in many areas of scientific and commercial programming. Additionally, it is the basis of the popular spreadsheet application, Microsoft Excel.

[Richard|Dyalog]

That looks like it is quite closely paraphrasing Wikipedia:

APL (named after the book A Programming Language)[3] 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[4] 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,[5] and computer math packages.[6] It has also inspired several other programming languages.[7][8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(programming_language)

I find the fact it is not exactly parroting Wikipedia quite interesting!

[Phil Last]

Additionally, it is the basis of the popular spreadsheet application, Microsoft Excel.

Is that true?

I know there was already a plethora of array viewers amd editors spread around the APL community by that time, some purporting to mirror SQL and some more purely multi-d, probably more than a few still in operation, and I've seen the list of products that are said to have been influenced by APL but I never heard before that Excel was one of them.

[kai]

Is that true?

I doubt this very much.

[petermsiegel]

I asked ChatGPT, since it is authoritative (at least if you ask it enough)! Its answer:

Q. Was APL the basis for the popular spreadsheet application, Microsoft Excel?

A. No, APL (A Programming Language) was not the basis for Microsoft Excel. APL is a high-level programming language that uses mathematical symbols and operations, while Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application used for data manipulation and analysis. Excel was initially developed by Microsoft for Macintosh computers and was later released for Windows. While Excel does have some programming capabilities, it is not based on APL or any other programming language.

And after talking to its Public Relations department...

Q. Were any of the ideas in Excel drawn from APL?

A. It's possible that some of the ideas in Microsoft Excel were influenced by APL, but this has not been officially confirmed by Microsoft. [ABRIDGED]