Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!willett!ForthNet
From: ForthNet@willett.UUCP (ForthNet articles from GEnie)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: for us beginners?  Help
Message-ID: <1375.UUL1.3#5129@willett.UUCP>
Date: 22 Jul 90 23:47:21 GMT
Organization: String, Scotch tape, and Paperclips.  (in Pgh, PA)
Lines: 37

Category 2,  Topic 5
Message 148       Thu Jul 19, 1990
D.RUFFER [Dennis]            at 23:30 EDT
 
Re: CINDY BARTORILLO

 >           A name that I see frequently is PolyForth. Where
 > does that stand in the pantheon?

pF is the product of FORTH, Incorporated, the company started back in '73 by
Chuck Moore.  Chuck has since moved on, but we are still producing Forth. 
polyFORTH ISD-4 is the latest in our long line of products which have their
roots in the original miniForth.  pF is neither 83 nor 79 standard, but its
roots are the same as those from which FIG Forth grew.  We are hoping to bring
them all back together again with the ANSI standard.  Its best feature is that
it is about the purest Forth you can buy.  Its worst feature is its price,
over $3K, which doesn't buy you much more than what F-PC give you for free. 
However, if you want to do serious work with Forth, IMHO polyFORTH is the way
to go.  Of course I'm biased, I work for them.

 >                                  And I was just prowling
 > GEnie and noticed another somethingorother called Abundance.
 > Does anyone know anything about this one?

If you think F-PC is big, you obviously haven't seen Abundance and the BBL
Forth that goes with it.  First, find yourself at least 5 Megabytes on your
hard disk, then start downloading.  If you are interested in databases, it is
the best you will find in the public domain.  It has many features that some
comercial packages are lacking, and it comes with complete source code.  The
BBL Forth that goes along with it is a full 32 bit Forth written for MSDOS
machines.  Once you have figured out the basics of more traditional Forths,
BBL is worth the comparison.

DaR
-----
This message came from GEnie via willett through a semi-automated process.
Report problems to: uunet!willett!dwp or willett!dwp@hobbes.cert.sei.cmu.edu