Epson QX-10 / AT&T 3B1

From: lisard_at_zetnet.co.uk <(lisard_at_zetnet.co.uk)>
Date: Mon Mar 2 16:32:41 1998

[tony duell]
   :> yes. shame about VALDOCS really. it seems to have killed forth's
   :> reputation for all time. it was reputedly an integrated package
   :>written in forth - unfortunately, it seems, the people who wrote

   :I thought it was written in Stoic, which although a threaded
   :stack-based language like Forth, was somewhat different in the
   :details.

not that different. we have a source listing for stoic on our hard drive
at the moment (you want it? we'll mail it) and the major differences
from forth were (a) it used a file system with 6 letter names, (b) it
compiled everything, even immediate stuff, into a temporary buffer then
executed the buffer, (c) you pushed textual words using 'xxxx rather
than forth's method of having "WORD" pick up the next word in the input
stream.

   :Not forgetting HP's RPL language which is Forth done even better.
   :You can push _anything_ onto the stack - integers, reals, strings,
   :even programs :-) I think the HP28 is now 10 years old, so we can
   :mention it here.

ah, yes... we finally got hold of the dos development suite for this.
it's a lovely language, but it departs somewhat from the simplicity and
directness we like in forth. on the other hand, it's great for its
chosen application, and if you're a lisp fan too... (yes, we are.
symbolics 3600 on offer, anyone...? ;> )

what we'd like to see, though, is a forth effectively incorporating the
concepts in smalltalk (ie everything on the stack is an object, possibly
with a tag bit to differentiate between integers and anything else).
have to start hacking one...


-- Communa (together) we remember... we'll see you falling
you know soft spoken changes nothing to sing within her...

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Received on Mon Mar 02 1998 - 16:32:41 GMT