All the math
This part will cover
- Basic mathematical operations
- Calculating things
Being an engineer, you have a lot of varied computational needs which require a large range of mathematical functions.
Thankfully, APL comes with a lot of math functions! Here we go through a bunch of them, so you can always come back to check. Remember to also check the toolbar in TryAPL and RIDE, they come with very helpful tooltips to remind you what an operator does!
The notation of ceiling ⌈x⌉ and ⌊x⌋ floor in mathematics matches with the corresponding APL functions, in fact, the notation of ceiling and floor (and the use of those words to describe rounding up and down) comes from APL! Before APL, there was no consistent standard to represent the ceiling and floor functions. Ceiling rounds up to the nearest integer, and floor rounds down to the nearest integer.
Monadic ⌈ and ⌊ : Ceil & Floor
⌈ 2.5 2.6 ¯2.5 ¯2.6
3 3 ¯2 ¯2
⌊ 2.5 2.6 ¯2.5 ¯2.6
2 2 ¯3 ¯3
Dyadic ⌈ and ⌊ : Max & Min
4 ⌈ 5 ⍝ This simply returns the larger argument
5
4 ⌊ 5 ⍝ This is for the smaller one
4
4 ⌈ 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 0 ⍝ "Clips" the value of elements to a minimum
4 4 5 7 9 8 6 4 4 4
4 ⌊ 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 0 ⍝ Similarly "clips" down
1 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 0
The "modulo" operator in other languages is called the residue in APL, and the order of the arguments is reversed. The residue function calculates the residue of the division of the right argument by the left.
Dyadic | : Residue
⍝ 100 - 13 × 7 = 9, note this is in reverse order as `%` operator in C
13 | 100
9
⍝ ¯100 - 13 × ¯8 = 4
13 | ¯100
4
⍝ 100 - ¯13 × ¯8 = 4
¯13 | 100
¯4
⍝ ¯100 - ¯13 × 7 = ¯9
¯13 | ¯100
¯9
⍝ Also works for non-integers!
⍝ 10 - 3.3 × 3 = 0.1
3.3 | 10
0.1
⍝ 3 - 0 = 3
0 | 3
3
The residue function X|Y in APL can be written in terms of previously discussed functions. In fact, from the definition as the remainder of division, we might think it's defined as Y-X×(⌊Y÷X); however, Y÷X is not defined when X is zero. We'd want a function that is equal to 1 when X is 0, and X when X is not zero, X+(X=0) is one solution.
⍝ X|Y is
Y-X×(⌊Y÷(X+(X=0)))
⍝ Without the unnecessary parentheses
Y-X×⌊Y÷X+X=0
The residue operation here (which is the least absolute remainder) is different from the euclidean remainder (the least positive remainder), to obtain it simply subtract divisor back if the result is negative.
mod←{(⍵|⍺)<0:(⍵|⍺)-⍵ ⋄ ⍵|⍺}
¯13 mod ¯3
2
¯14 mod ¯3
1
¯15 mod ¯3
0
APL also natively supports complex numbers, which makes it attractive for uses in, for example, quantum computing. A complex number is represented as XJY, where X is the real part and Y is the imaginary part. In mathematical notation, $ XJY = X + i Y $.
Monadic | : Absolute value, Magnitude
⍝ Absolute value of ¯1 is ...
| ¯1
1
⍝ Applying to complex numbers
| 0J1 3J4
1 5
Dyadic ∨ & ∧ : GCD and LCM
⍝ Greatest Common Divisor
12 ∨ 10
2
⍝ Least Common Mutiple
12 ∧ 10
60
⍝ The result is non-negative for GCD
¯2 ∨ ¯15
1
⍝ But the LCM is defined as product of two numbers divided by their GCD, so it could be negative
¯4 ∧ 10
¯20
As suggested by the choice of glyphs for these two operations, these two operations are also used for the boolean logic "or" and "and" operations. More on this in the next section.
Monadic + : Complex Conjugate
+ 0j1 1j¯1 3j4
0J¯1 1J1 3J¯4
Monadic - : Negate
- 4 ¯5 6
¯4 5 ¯6
⍝ Remember this is different from ¯, since it could be monadic and also applies to the whole array
⍝ Here, -4 -5 -6 is -(4-(5-6)) = ¯5
-4 -5 -6
¯5
Monadic × : Sign/Direction
× 0 3 ¯3
0 1 ¯1
× 3J4 ¯6J8 7J24
0.6J0.8 ¯0.6J0.8 0.28J0.96
Monadic ○ : Pi Times
○ 1
3.141592654
○ 2
6.283185307
○ 0.5
1.570796327
○ 0J1
0J3.141592654
Dyadic ○ : Trigonometric Functions
The dyadic circle ○ function applies a trigonometric function to its right argument depending on its left argument.
⍝ Sine of an approximation to PI
1 ○ ○ 1
1.224646799E¯16
⍝ Cosine of zero
2 ○ 0
1
⍝ Tangent of 0.5
3 ○ 0
0.5463024898
⍝ Cosine of I
2 ○ 0J1
1.543080635