Kenneth E. Iverson

If it is to be effective as a tool of thought, a notation must allow convenient expression not only of notions arising…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

The properties of executability and universality associated with programming languages can be combined, in a single language, with the well-known properties of…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

It is important to distinguish the difficulty of describing and learning a piece of notation from the difficulty of mastering its implications.…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

The precision provided (or enforced) by programming languages and their execution can identify lacunas, ambiguities, and other areas of potential confusion in…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

With the computer and programming languages, mathematics has newly-acquired tools, and its notation should be reviewed in the light of them. The…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

Most programming languages are decidedly inferior to mathematical notation and are little used as tools of thought in ways that would be…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

Overemphasis of efficiency leads to an unfortunate circularity in design: for reasons of efficiency early programming languages reflected the characteristics of the…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

The utility of a language as a tool of thought increases with the range of topics it can treat, but decreases with…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

The practice of first developing a clear and precise definition of a process without regard for efficiency, and then using it as…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

Although mathematical notation undoubtedly possesses parsing rules, they are rather loose, sometimes contradictory, and seldom clearly stated. [...] The proliferation of programming…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

I was appalled to find that the mathematical notation on which I had been raised failed to fill the needs of the…

— Kenneth E. Iverson

The initial motive for developing APL was to provide a tool for writing and teaching. Although APL has been exploited mostly in…

— Kenneth E. Iverson