J has JDB[2] and Jd[3] for things somewhat similar to qdb with Jd being the commercial offering similar to qdb rather than JDB.
I would probably choose APL over Q if that were a choice. In J you can always make your definitions (verbs, nouns, etc...) plain words if you like the way Q reads.
[1] jsoftware.com
[2] http://code.jsoftware.com/wiki/JDB
[3] http://www.jsoftware.com/jdhelp/overview.html