Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!rsoft!mindlink!a684
From: a684@mindlink.UUCP (Nick Janow)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: Off BASIS
Message-ID: <2966@mindlink.UUCP>
Date: 27 Aug 90 18:14:21 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Lines: 22


JAJZ801@CALSTATE.BITNET (Jeff Sicherman,CSU Long Beach) writes:

> I know it's a trite joke, but it [FORTH] IS rather write-only and that's the
> principle inhibition to both learning the language and to code sharing and
> reading that are inherent to large projects these days. As a consequence, I
> think it is destined to be a niche language project- and programmer-wise.
> Maybe that's as it should be. Sorry, I don't think Forth would be much more
> popular no matter how standard and portable.

Sheesh, what a terribly pessimistic viewpoint.  :-(

FORTH _can_ be written in a manner that is very readable.  It's not even that
hard to do once you get used to it.  I started off writing very few comments,
but now I find myself commenting more and appreciating the comments more.  John
Rible (if I have my Johns straight) proposed a concise method of stack
commenting which handles all stacks (data, FP, control flow, etc); it is even
machine readable.  Something like that could help on large projects and/or code
revision.

I like FORTH and am optimistic about its prospects, even for large
applications.  I think the ANS standard will help.