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The X-Philes (2nd Revision)
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The X-Philes Number 1 (1995).iso
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rpl.txt
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1995-03-31
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Author: [William C Wickes]
Date: Mon Mar 11 1991
RPL stands for Reverse Polish Lisp. In the early days of RPL development, we
got tired of calling the unnamed system "the new system," and one of the
development team came up with "RPL," both as a play on "RPN" which has been
the loved/hated hallmark of HP calcs forever, and as an accurate indication of
the derivation of the language from Forth and Lisp.
RPL was never particularly intended to be a public term; at the time of the HP
Journal article (August 1987) on the HP 28C there was an attempt to create a
less whimsical name--hence "ROM-based procedural language," which preserved
the initials but had a more dignified sound. The development team never calls
it anything but (the initials) RPL. You can choose either of the two
full-word versions that you prefer. Or how about "Rich People's Language?"
Bill Wickes
HP Corvallis