Sasl

Sasl, created in 1972 by David Turner, was developed to support symbolic computation and algebraic manipulation with a focus on lazy evaluation. It aimed to provide an efficient means of handling complex mathematical expressions by evaluating them only when required.

Sasl's strengths included its use of lazy evaluation, which optimized performance by avoiding unnecessary computations, and its suitability for symbolic computation. Its weaknesses involved limited adoption and a smaller community, which affected the availability of resources and libraries. Competitors included other functional languages like Haskell and Lisp, which offered broader support and more extensive ecosystems.

A Sasl expert must have a strong understanding of functional programming principles, proficiency in lazy evaluation techniques, and experience with symbolic computation. They should also be skilled in algebraic manipulation and familiar with the language's syntax and semantics.