classic operating systems

From: Dwight Elvey <elvey_at_hal.com>
Date: Mon Mar 15 18:05:46 1999

Mike Ford <mikeford_at_netwiz.net> wrote:
>
> Then in your program you could define
>
> Graggle
> Fraggle
> Rraggle
> End Graggle
Hi
 The unique thing about Forth is that you can more easily
build as you go. You can completely check your code
at each level of complexity. While at work I do a
little C and Pearl. When working on home projects
I pull out some Forth. As an example: Once I have the template, I
write an assembler in an evening.
 As Mike has shown, it is a "Do it as you see it"
type language. This makes debug a snap and eliminates
most of those hidden precedence order bugs that
seem to sneak into code. It is a type-less language
so you have to be a big boy and know that you can't
multiply a character times 5 and get a meaningful result.
In general it is a vary structured and modular language
that allows the language to be expanded to be the
solution.
 The bad part about Forth is dealing with all of the
stack manipulation words. Many consider them to
be unnecessary noise. Still, one can get Forth
running on most processors with a minimum of time
and effort. You start with a minimal interpreter/compiler
that runs from a terminal and build the rest on
the machine in question. No need for ROM-ICE or special
debuggers.
Dwight
Received on Mon Mar 15 1999 - 18:05:46 GMT