Friday 24 July 2009

APL article on Wikipedia

At yesterday's meeting, BAA London drafted a new opening for the Wikipedia article on APL, and posted it on the APL Wiki for further work (especially collecting citations) before it goes on Wikipedia.

Take a look at the draft and see what you can contribute.

Thursday 9 July 2009

Job Watch: Canada

http://www.workopolis.com/EN/theme/Metroland/job/10802094

Senior Developer Time Series,
CPP INVESTMENT BOARD
Posted May 19, 2009

Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Industry:
Company Url:
Financial
http://www.cppib.ca


Department: Information Services
Reference No.: Q110-136R
Position Type: Full-time
Location: Toronto,Ontario
Job Category:

With assets under management projected to grow to $250 billion by 2016, CPP Investment Board is one of the largest and fastest growing institutional investors in the world. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in London and Hong Kong, the CPP Investment Board is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan by experienced and highly skilled investment professionals. Their job is to prudently invest CPP assets to help pay future pensions.

The Time Series Solutions team is looking for a forward thinking Senior Developer to help lay the foundation of a KDB-based enterprise-level time series data platform. The Time Series Solutions team is responsible for delivering time series data and related solutions and services to our business partners as well as to other groups in Information Services.

Candidates will have an Undergraduate or Graduate degree in the field of physical sciences, computer sciences, software engineering, Mathematics and/or equivalent and 7+ years of work experience within financial services, preferably investment management.

The role requires familiarity with data management systems, strong communication skills and a desire to work in a fast-paced agile-delivery environment.

Role Specific Accountabilities:

* Further the design and development of the early-stage KDB-based time series warehouse
* Collaborate with business and IS team members to conceptualize, design and develop Kdb+, Java or C++ software solutions which may include integration with database applications, web services and ESB services that support CPPIB's service oriented architectur
* Adhere to, advocate and follow development best practices
* Analyze and prepare wiki-based SDLC artifacts including system documentation and test plans and develop software in accordance with CPPIB SDLC standards
* Effectively unit test and perform integration testing on software components. Proactively assist quality assurance
* Create installation plans, validation plans and back out procedures to assist Infrastructure Management with software deployments
* Assist in the development and maintenance of a wiki shared knowledge base
* Conduct research on emerging application development software products, languages, and standards
* Provide level II troubleshooting support on a rotational, 7x24 basis

If you possess the following, we'd like to hear from you

* 7+ years of programming experience in Java, J2EE or C++ with emphasis on server-side development of enterprise-class applications and databases
* Senior development experience with enterprise market and reference data management systems
* Coding experience with time series systems or platform
* Exposure to the use of frameworks and open architecture designs
* Senior experience with the full software life cycle in larger collaborative development teams, with practice ranging from requirements analysis through deployment
* Strong communication and interpersonal skills
* Strong problem solving skills stemming from math, physics and/or a computer science background
* Strong initiative with an ability to grasp the big picture and actively seek ways to improve the status quo
* Strong commitment to guiding principles of integrity, partnership and high performance

Desirable Experience

* Experience programming in Q or K (Kdb+), APL, Sybase IQ, Vhayu, Fame, or Vertica
* Experience In-memory database programming language
* Financial qualifications such as CSC and/or CFA

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Origins of APL: Excerpts

Ken Iversion and Adin Falkoff talk about APL in the beginning.

Monday 6 July 2009

Origins of APL Intro

Here is the Intro sequence to the 1974 film Origins of APL

Friday 3 July 2009

Dad & My APL Box

This is a refined version of the short film I showed at BAPLA2009. If you're a car enthusiast, it's worth another watch just to see the 1956 Caddy Adin Falkoff sold to Dick Lathwell in 1966 for $50!


Steve Pinker on Language & Thought

In an exclusive preview of his book The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker looks at language and how it expresses what goes on in our minds -- and how the words we choose communicate much more than we realize.