DYNA26: 27 April 2026. More info

The APL Year Game

A bit of fun (and possibly frustration!) for 2016…our “puzzle of the year”. Enjoy!

The APL Year Game

The Objective

Find APL expressions involving exactly the digits 2 0 1 6 in that order to equal the numbers 0 to 100. For example:

   20=16
0

   ×2016
1

   2⌊016
2

   2+0+1*6
3

...

The aim is to use as few characters as possible in each expression (the minimum number of characters for an expression is 5 – the four digits 2 0 1 6 and a single primitive function/operator).

The Rules

  • Each expression must contain the digits 2 0 1 6 (in that order) and no other digits.
  • In addition to the four digits 2 0 1 6, only primitive functions/operators, parentheses/braces, spaces, high minus signs and decimal points can be used. The resultant expressions must be deterministic (that is, give the same result on repeated evaluations).
  • Assume ⎕ML and ⎕IO are both 1.
  • Each entry comprising correct expressions for all the numbers from 0 to 100 inclusive will be rated according to the number of characters used by those expressions excluding redundant spaces (minimum 505 for all 101 expressions).

SPOILER (added after game ended): An amalgamation of all the entries showing the expressions that use the fewest characters for each number can be downloaded as a text file.

Hall of Fame

Name
Number of Characters Used
Jonas Stensiö
693
Veli-Matti Jantunen
693
Eric Lufkin
695
Michele Bellon
697
Moris Zucca
697
Stefano Lanzavecchia
700
Dan – Dyalog
701
Nick – Dyalog
701
Francesco Garue
702
Jay – Dyalog
711
Kaarlo Reipas
711
Алексей Коваль (Aleksei Koval)
711
Kacper Gutowski
726
Dragana Babić
786
Zachary Taylor
798
Stephen O’Brien
823
Eero Kekäläinen
954
Yi Lu
1125

XXX Needs title

An amalgamation of all the entries showing the expressions that use the fewest characters for each number can be downloaded as a text file. Congratulations to Jonas Stensiö and Veli-Matti Jantunen, who both achieved the same character count as the amalgamated minimum. Of course, there could be shorter expressions out there…

This section also needs a link to the blog peice that was only linked to via the little icon: https://dyalogprod.gos.dyalog.com/blog/2017/01/the-2016-year-game/

This is the Learn Master Page. Mike knows this message is here…

Get Support

Technical advice and assistance on all aspects of Dyalog usage is available by e-mail (support@dyalog.com) and/or telephone (+44 1256 830030 – limited to U.K. office hours). Limited advice on design and coding is available, but is not intended to replace the use of the printed and on-line documentation. Except when reporting an issue with the software, users are encouraged to seek advice from the user community via the Dyalog Forum (reading the content of the forums does not require membership).

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