# APL-on-SX: rank-polymorphic primitives + glyph parser

The headline showcase is **rank polymorphism** — a single primitive (`+`, `⌈`, `⊂`, `⍳`) works uniformly on scalars, vectors, matrices, and higher-rank arrays. ~80 glyph primitives + 6 operators bind together with right-to-left evaluation; the entire language is a high-density combinator algebra. The JIT compiler + primitive table pay off massively here because almost every program is `array → array` pure pipelines.

End-state goal: Dyalog-flavoured APL subset, dfns + tradfns, classic programs (game-of-life, mandelbrot, prime-sieve, n-queens, conway), 100+ green tests.

## Scope decisions (defaults — override by editing before we spawn)

- **Syntax:** Dyalog APL surface, Unicode glyphs. `⎕`-quad system functions for I/O. `∇` tradfn header.
- **Conformance:** "Reads like APL, runs like APL." Not byte-compat with Dyalog; we care about right-to-left semantics and rank polymorphism.
- **Test corpus:** custom — APL idioms (Roger Hui style), classic programs, plus ~50 pattern tests for primitives.
- **Out of scope:** ⎕-namespaces beyond a handful, complex numbers, full TAO ordering, `⎕FX` runtime function definition (use static `∇` only), nested-array-of-functions higher orders, the editor.
- **Glyphs:** input via plain Unicode in `.apl` source files. Backtick-prefix shortcuts handled by the user's editor — we don't ship one.

## Ground rules

- **Scope:** only touch `lib/apl/**` and `plans/apl-on-sx.md`. Don't edit `spec/`, `hosts/`, `shared/`, or any other `lib/<lang>/**`. APL primitives go in `lib/apl/runtime.sx`.
- **SX files:** use `sx-tree` MCP tools only.
- **Commits:** one feature per commit. Keep `## Progress log` updated and tick roadmap boxes.

## Architecture sketch

```
APL source (Unicode glyphs)
    │
    ▼
lib/apl/tokenizer.sx   — glyphs, identifiers, numbers (¯ for negative), strings, strands
    │
    ▼
lib/apl/parser.sx      — right-to-left with valence resolution (mon vs dyadic by position)
    │
    ▼
lib/apl/transpile.sx   — AST → SX AST (entry: apl-eval-ast)
    │
    ▼
lib/apl/runtime.sx     — array model, ~80 primitives, 6 operators, dfns/tradfns
```

Core mapping:
- **Array** = SX dict `{:shape (d1 d2 …) :ravel #(v1 v2 …)}`. Scalar is rank-0 (empty shape), vector is rank-1, matrix rank-2, etc. Type uniformity not required (heterogeneous nested arrays via "boxed" elements `⊂x`).
- **Rank polymorphism** — every scalar primitive is broadcast: `1 2 3 + 4 5 6` ↦ `5 7 9`; `(2 3⍴⍳6) + 1` ↦ broadcast scalar to matrix.
- **Conformability** = matching shapes, or one-side scalar, or rank-1 cycling (deferred — keep strict in v1).
- **Valence** = each glyph has a monadic and a dyadic meaning; resolution is purely positional (left-arg present → dyadic).
- **Operator** = takes one or two function operands, returns a derived function (`f¨` = `each f`, `f/` = `reduce f`, `f∘g` = `compose`, `f⍨` = `commute`).
- **Tradfn** `∇R←L F R; locals` = named function with explicit header.
- **Dfn** `{⍺+⍵}` = anonymous, `⍺` = left arg, `⍵` = right arg, `∇` = recurse.

## Roadmap

### Phase 1 — tokenizer + parser
- [ ] Tokenizer: Unicode glyphs (the full APL set: `+ - × ÷ * ⍟ ⌈ ⌊ | ! ? ○ ~ < ≤ = ≥ > ≠ ∊ ∧ ∨ ⍱ ⍲ , ⍪ ⍴ ⌽ ⊖ ⍉ ↑ ↓ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ∪ ∩ ⍳ ⍸ ⌷ ⍋ ⍒ ⊥ ⊤ ⊣ ⊢ ⍎ ⍕ ⍝`), operators (`/ \ ¨ ⍨ ∘ . ⍣ ⍤ ⍥ @`), numbers (`¯` for negative, `1E2`, `1J2` complex deferred), characters (`'a'`, `''` escape), strands (juxtaposition of literals: `1 2 3`), names, comments `⍝ …`
- [ ] Parser: right-to-left; classify each token as function, operator, value, or name; resolve valence positionally; dfn `{…}` body, tradfn `∇` header, guards `:`, control words `:If :While :For …` (Dyalog-style)
- [ ] Unit tests in `lib/apl/tests/parse.sx`

### Phase 2 — array model + scalar primitives
- [ ] Array constructor: `make-array shape ravel`, `scalar v`, `vector v…`, `enclose`/`disclose`
- [ ] Shape arithmetic: `⍴` (shape), `,` (ravel), `≢` (tally / first-axis-length), `≡` (depth)
- [ ] Scalar arithmetic primitives broadcast: `+ - × ÷ ⌈ ⌊ * ⍟ | ! ○`
- [ ] Scalar comparison primitives: `< ≤ = ≥ > ≠`
- [ ] Scalar logical: `~ ∧ ∨ ⍱ ⍲`
- [ ] Index generator: `⍳n` (vector 1..n or 0..n-1 depending on `⎕IO`)
- [ ] `⎕IO` = 1 default (Dyalog convention)
- [ ] 40+ tests in `lib/apl/tests/scalar.sx`

### Phase 3 — structural primitives + indexing
- [ ] Reshape `⍴`, ravel `,`, transpose `⍉` (full + dyadic axis spec)
- [ ] Take `↑`, drop `↓`, rotate `⌽` (last axis), `⊖` (first axis)
- [ ] Catenate `,` (last axis) and `⍪` (first axis)
- [ ] Index `⌷` (squad), bracket-indexing `A[I]` (sugar for `⌷`)
- [ ] Grade-up `⍋`, grade-down `⍒`
- [ ] Enclose `⊂`, disclose `⊃`, partition (subset deferred)
- [ ] Membership `∊`, find `⍳` (dyadic), without `~` (dyadic), unique `∪` (deferred to phase 6)
- [ ] 40+ tests in `lib/apl/tests/structural.sx`

### Phase 4 — operators (THE SHOWCASE)
- [ ] Reduce `f/` (last axis), `f⌿` (first axis) — including `∧/`, `∨/`, `+/`, `×/`, `⌈/`, `⌊/`
- [ ] Scan `f\`, `f⍀`
- [ ] Each `f¨` — applies `f` to each scalar/element
- [ ] Outer product `∘.f` — `1 2 3 ∘.× 1 2 3` ↦ multiplication table
- [ ] Inner product `f.g` — `+.×` is matrix multiply
- [ ] Commute `f⍨` — `f⍨ x` ↔ `x f x`, `x f⍨ y` ↔ `y f x`
- [ ] Compose `f∘g` — applies `g` first then `f`
- [ ] Power `f⍣n` — apply f n times; `f⍣≡` until fixed point
- [ ] Rank `f⍤k` — apply f at sub-rank k
- [ ] At `@` — selective replace
- [ ] 40+ tests in `lib/apl/tests/operators.sx`

### Phase 5 — dfns + tradfns + control flow
- [ ] Dfn `{…}` with `⍺` (left arg, may be absent → niladic/monadic), `⍵` (right arg), `∇` (recurse), guards `cond:expr`, default left arg `⍺←default`
- [ ] Local assignment via `←` (lexical inside dfn)
- [ ] Tradfn `∇` header: `R←L F R;l1;l2`, statement-by-statement, branch via `→linenum`
- [ ] Dyalog control words: `:If/:Else/:EndIf`, `:While/:EndWhile`, `:For X :In V :EndFor`, `:Select/:Case/:EndSelect`, `:Trap`/`:EndTrap`
- [ ] Niladic / monadic / dyadic dispatch (function valence at definition time)
- [ ] `lib/apl/conformance.sh` + runner, `scoreboard.json` + `scoreboard.md`

### Phase 6 — classic programs + drive corpus
- [ ] Classic programs in `lib/apl/tests/programs/`:
  - [ ] `life.apl` — Conway's Game of Life as a one-liner using `⊂` `⊖` `⌽` `+/`
  - [ ] `mandelbrot.apl` — complex iteration with rank-polymorphic `+ × ⌊` (or real-axis subset)
  - [ ] `primes.apl` — `(2=+⌿0=A∘.|A)/A←⍳N` sieve
  - [ ] `n-queens.apl` — backtracking via reduce
  - [ ] `quicksort.apl` — the classic Roger Hui one-liner
- [ ] System functions: `⎕FMT`, `⎕FR` (float repr), `⎕TS` (timestamp), `⎕IO`, `⎕ML` (migration level — fixed at 1), `⎕←` (print)
- [ ] Drive corpus to 100+ green
- [ ] Idiom corpus — `lib/apl/tests/idioms.sx` covering classic Roger Hui / Phil Last idioms

## SX primitive baseline

Use vectors for arrays; numeric tower + rationals for numbers; ADTs for tagged data;
coroutines for fibers; string-buffer for mutable string building; bitwise ops for bit
manipulation; multiple values for multi-return; promises for lazy evaluation; hash tables
for mutable associative storage; sets for O(1) membership; sequence protocol for
polymorphic iteration; gensym for unique symbols; char type for characters; string ports
+ read/write for reader protocols; regexp for pattern matching; bytevectors for binary
data; format for string templating.

## Progress log

_Newest first._

- _(none yet)_

## Blockers

- _(none yet)_
