Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pt.cs.cmu.edu!a.gp.cs.cmu.edu!koopman
From: koopman@a.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Philip Koopman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: Marketing Forth (was Re: Thoughts on Forth)
Summary: war stories about Fort acceptance
Message-ID: <7660@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: 22 Jan 90 12:26:57 GMT
References: <7636@pt.cs.cmu.edu> <6110@cps3xx.UUCP>
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 37

In article <6110@cps3xx.UUCP>, usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) writes:
> How do you sell management on doing a project in Forth? That is the real
> battle. Good technical articles would go a long way towards helping.
> But, other than doing a project completely in Forth and then unveiling
> to management later that it was done in Forth, what are some good ways
> to go about changing the thinking of the decision makers?

Here is one example that worked for me-- your milage may vary:

I was working for the Trident Command and Control Systems Maintenance
Activity in Newport RI (they do combat electronics for Trident submarines).
They wanted to create an expert system for troubleshooting.  They assigned
me to to the preliminary design using an IBM PC.  I spent
a week on GC Lisp and gave up based on speed and memory requirements
(they wanted it to run on a laptop).  So, I told my boss that
he had a choice: write in C and never be done, or prototype in
Forth.  I promised to rewrite all the software in his language
of choice if he would let me prototype in Forth.  He agreed,
and sure enough 4 weeks later when the prototype was operational
(including some nifty graphics) he said he didn't want it
ported to any other language, and that I had convinced him
Forth was the way to go.

Suggested tactic: sell it as a prototyping tool and promise
to rewrite in any other language at their desire (works
best for high-risk exploration projects)

Problem: two years after I left to go back to school, I heard
they were desparate for a Forth programmer and were having
trouble finding a good one.  I think they probably got someone
from the Boston Fig chapter to help them eventually.

  Phil Koopman                koopman@greyhound.ece.cmu.edu   Arpanet
  2525A Wexford Run Rd.
  Wexford, PA  15090
Senior Scientist at Harris Semiconductor.
I don't speak for them, and they don't speak for me.