ap5 from a programmers point of view
Dennis G. Allard http://oceanpark.com March 29, 1990 minor revisions: December 11, 1996, October 29, 2014, August 12, 2022
This is a ruthlessly abridged presentation of AP5, a high level language, currently implemented as an extension to Common Lisp. I write this to communicate my discovery of a good language to others. Everything described is implemented.
Please refer to ap5.com for a more complete definition of AP5, including the AP5 reference manual and freely downloadable source code.
AP5 is a specification language in that it enables a programmer to specify programs at a level more abstract than with standard programming languages. The AP5 compiler converts the programmer's spec into LISP code, alleviating the programmer from the need to make many data structuring and coding decisions.
AP5 was designed and implemented by Don Cohen, inspired by the AP3 language of Neil Goldman. Don and Neil have worked together to meld AP5 into what it is today, supported by a cast of AP5 users and developers . Work on AP5 continues and descendants of AP5 have been developed, in the guise of extensions to C++, Ada, and a new version of AP5, known as rellisp.
