Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!SCFVM.BITNET!ZMLEB
From: ZMLEB@SCFVM.BITNET (Lee Brotzman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: RE: Success of FORTH in the marketplace
Message-ID: <8907300608.AA04417@jade.berkeley.edu>
Date: 30 Jul 89 06:07:37 GMT
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 <ubc-cs!alberta!idacom!andrew@BEAVER.CS.WASHINGTON.EDU> writes:
>
>Forth is supposedly easy to learn, but I think that the learning curve to
>"think Forth" is steep.  Learning this language is not just a matter of
>learning the syntax, but also learning the style and methodology of using
>the language.
>--
>Andrew Scott                    andrew@idacom
>                        - or -  {att, watmath, ubc-cs}!alberta!idacom!andrew

   I don't think that Forth is easy to learn.  But, I think that time spent
learning Forth is time well spent.  The hard-won Forth mentalilty serves any
programmer well in any language.  I have used the techniques I gained from
an intimate knowledge of Forth in other, "academically accepted", languages.
The functions and procedures I write now in C, Pascal, and Rexx are more
brief and semantically coherent.  They are more easily tested because I
try to test them immediately, i.e. instead of testing on the command line
like I do in Forth, I write a quick driver program -- and because the
procedures are more "Forth-like", the driver programs are easier to write.
It isn't as fast or as convenient, but the tests are made in as Forth-like
a setting as I can muster given the environment.
   This may be a harsh statement, but I still think that the only way that
Forth can be truly appreciated is to write a Forth interpreter on you own.
It isn't as hard as it sounds.  The source code for many interpreters are
publically available, and all that is needed is to adapt one to your own
needs.  Don't worry about standards (at least at first) and just plunge in
and make a Forth that you like.
   As a first-year graduate with a Bachelors of Science degree in Astronomy
minoring in Computer Science, I had all the expertise needed to create
a Forth kernel and most of the high-level extensions to make a complete
development environment.  At its heart, Forth is extremely simple.  In its
soul, Forth is something that approaches enlightenment.  With a small amount
of knowledge about how computers work, and some assembly language
programming, Forth is yours.
   Just remember that Forth is not hard, it is only different.
   Vive la differance.

-- Lee Brotzman (FIGI-L Moderator)
-- BITNET:   ZMLEB@SCFVM
-- Internet: zmleb@scfvm.gsfc.nasa.gov
-- The government and my company don't know what I'm saying.
-- Let's keep it that way.