General : This website
presents a new computer programming languaged named Glee. Here
you will find an ever expanding description of the language. I will also be
expanding the capabilities ahead of those descriptions. You will find files
which you can download. They operate on computers running Windows 95 and above
(see downloads).
Glee is currently free.
Throughout this site I will freely use terms generally occuring in the
computing vernacular. Consult the Glossary if you're not familiar with some of them. If you have
questions or find problems with the interpreter or documentation, please go to
the Contact Me bullet to
report them. I hope you come to enjoy Glee as much as I do.
What is Glee
Glee is a general purpose, vector oriented, interpretive
programming language. This version runs on Windows 95 and above. It plagiarizes
elements of languages like APL, J, and K. I feel I have invented some of
its features, but who knows where ideas come from? The language is very late
binding. This gives it traits suitable for software sculpture.
Navigating this website:
This website uses frames. There are two. The one you see on the left is always
visible. Click on the bullet items and this frame on the right is populated.
Use the left side items to go directly to the general section of interest. Then
the content desired will be presented on the right. This right frame is often
divided into two frames as you see now (one above and one below). Often, the
information given above is understandable and you can work through it very
quickly. Where the point or example might not be obvious, click on the
Commentary
button for more information.
You can move the sizing bars between the frames to suit your taste.
Is there more?: Yes ... a
lot more. I have been working on Glee for a little over two
years. It is loaded with features. This documention to date just scratches the
surface. Having moved Glee to a point where it can do real work,
I am now backtracking to bring the documention up to date. Achieving that, I
will then move ahead with Glee's future. I anticipate another two
months to show you everything that exists right now (i.e. by March, 2002).
Futures: Glee is
in its infancy. Right now it does much of what the APL language did in
its heyday. But it does much more. For example, APL was principally
number oriented. Glee is also text oriented (while retaining much
of APL's proficiency with numbers.)
Framework:Glee's greatest asset is
its underlying framework. It is extremely flexible. Operators and their
operations; types and their properties and methods; environments and exchange
of information between them ... all these are very easy to enhance. Further,
Glee is written totally in C++ and Glee itself. It
can easily be ported to any platform with a C++ compiler. This port uses
Borland's C++ Builder. Borland recently introduced this (Delphi) environment as
Kylix for Linux. When they introduce a C++ version there, I'll immediately
create a Linux port.
Why Glee:It would seem
there are plenty of computer languages and the world doesn't need another one.
I've learned many and have heard good things about others enticing me to learn
them. But I have had lots of experience in APL. I am 20 times more
productive in it than any other language I've known. Glee is
my-own, and to me, my-better APL. It keeps the features I enjoyed in
APL and removes the warts. It supplies features I always wished
APL had. If I like it this much, maybe someone else will too. If not?
Well, I'm back to being 20 times more productive by using Glee.