Welcome to the Summer Issue of DYALOGue
Welcome,
and Happy New Year to you all! Well all right, I DO know it is midsummer, but that is when the new year begins at Dyalog. It has become a tradition for us to release a new version around that time each year, after which we start working on the next one, and preparing to tell you all about it at the next User Meeting!
We are very proud of version 16.0, in which a number of features and frameworks that we have been thinking about and experimenting with for some years have finally crystallised. In this newsletter, Morten Kromberg (CXO) provides an introduction to the contents of the new release. If you would like to see and hear more about v16.0, join us for a webinar on Thursday 29 June at 15:00 UTC, where we will celebrate the release with a look at the most important features. For in-depth presentations of the new features, an opportunity to experiment with and discuss the new features under the guidance of the implementers – and network with other users – register for the Dyalog '17 user meeting in Elsinore, Denmark, September 10-14.
The last year has been an interesting year for Dyalog – we have been extremely busy and the financial result was excellent. As usual, we have attended APL user meetings and other events, and we continue to experiment with new ways to make new people aware of the wonders of APL.
More and more of this is taking place online. One of the most important vehicles is the 9th annual problem solving contest, which has been live since April 24, with submissions due by July 15. Note that, while the cash prizes and the trip to Dyalog '17 are only available to students, anyone can enter the contest and compete for a free Dyalog '17 user meeting registration (including accommodation).
Now, it *does* appear that young people also enjoy meeting in person. We're going to meet-ups, Hackathons and other events. We are keen to participate but we can't keep track of all the opportunities; if you do have a chance to attend one of these events and fly the flag, please grab the opportunity, and let us know about it as well!
People matter – and when I say that I am of course reminded of Daniel Baronet, who we lost on November 1, 2016, due to a motor cycle accident. Dan was an APL toolsmith, a teacher, and a great personality and he is sorely missed at Dyalog. We think of him as “ours”, but his memorial site bears testimony to his impact on the whole APL community – and many other people that he met on his travels.
On the positive side, we had the great pleasure of celebrating that Geoff Streeter, one of the original implementers of Dyalog APL has now worked for the company providing Dyalog APL for 40 years! Last year we celebrated the 50th anniversary of APL, and Geoff has been around for most of it. At the 50th anniversary celebration in Glasgow, the Kenneth E. Iverson award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development and Application of APL was bestowed on members of the Dyalog team again – we are now proud to have no less than six recipients of either the Iverson Award or the BAA Outstanding Achievement Award in our ranks!
We are also very happy to report that we have two recent additions to the Dyalog team: Michael Baas has joined us in a combined role where he will work for the APL tools group part-time while also representing Dyalog in Germany. Marshall Lochbaum has joined the interpreter development team. Despite his young age, he brings significant experience to Dyalog, having worked on enhancing and optimising the J interpreter. We also have no fewer than three interns this summer, one in the UK and two in the USA!
Many of our clients have also been successful this past year; one of my favourite success stories is the Cosmos application developed by Optima Systems in the UK. They were featured in an article in Analytical and Laboratory Equipment, titled "Unlocking the Business Intelligence in research data".
I hope that you enjoy this newsletter and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at Dyalog '17, at one of our webinars, or somewhere else in the real or virtual world!
Gitte Christensen