l: A new runtime for k and q
[ 00 ] a new runtime for the k family
l. a new runtime for k and q
l is a new runtime for k4, q, and qSQL code. It is a fast database and array language interpreter most commonly used on Wall Street. l has compressed vectors, SIMD, and automatic parallelism by default and runs existing k4/q/qSQL without modification.
k4 · q · qSQL transparent SIMD transparent compression auto-parallel
l · repl
modern HPC runtime
0.02 ms
SIMD reduction · scalar syntax
[ 01 ] what is l
same language. new engine.
The K and Q languages are array programming languages that offer an elegant syntax for high performance operations. In K/Q arrays are the unit of thought. l keeps those languages unchanged but adds transparent compressed vectors as the unit of execution: primitives run directly compressed structures so the full array is never rebuilt. Modern hardware starves for bandwidth long before it runs short of compute — so moving fewer bytes helps make L fast.
[ 01A ] compatible
k4, q, qSQL. unchanged.
run the syntax, idioms, and K4/q code you already have. l provides full compatibilty for tables, dicts , partitions and splays out of the box.
- k4 syntax compatibility
- native q and qSQL support
- optimized columnar tables
- zero code rewrites
[ 01B ] compressed
every vector. all the time.
data stays compressed at rest, in memory, and in transit. primitives run directly on the compressed vectors, so less data moves.
- end-to-end column compression
- direct execution without decoding
- optimized cache capacity
- uniform bytes at every layer
[ 01C ] transparent
SIMD, threads, offload.
the runtime picks the execution path—scalar, SIMD, threaded, or
offloaded—with no annotations. you write sum x; l does
the rest.
- NEON vectorization on Apple Silicon
- AVX-512 support on x86
- GPU and NPU hardware offloading
- unified binary for all targets
[ 02A ] in practice
same code, faster.
Fully qSQL compatible database including all joins and partition logic. Same legendary speed.
qSQL over compressed columns
single CPU · no decode pass
86.5M rows
[ 02B ] the same primitives, faster
one line. every core.
L implements automatic SIMD and threading for operations on vectors. L intelligently threads when vector lengths demand it - small vectors are SIMD , large are SIMD+threaded.
same primitive, wider plan
SIMD reduction · thread fan-out · remote execution
one expression
[ 03 ] anonymous mail group
a plain-text list for people building with l.
in the spirit of classic technical mailing lists: notes, benchmarks, design questions, release logs. no profiles, no directories.
join with email only
