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From: ForthNet@willett.pgh.pa.us (ForthNet articles from GEnie)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: CASE
Message-ID: <2225.UUL1.3#5129@willett.pgh.pa.us>
Date: 12 Jan 91 03:56:01 GMT
Organization: (n.) to be organized.  But that's not important right now.
Lines: 41


 Date: 01-09-91 (10:30)              Number: 820 of 821 (Echo)
   To: FRANK SERGEANT                Refer#: 806
 From: JACK WOEHR                      Read: NO
 Subj: CASE OF CODE                  Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE
 Conf: FORTH (58)                 Read Type: GENERAL (+)

 -> John Wavrik wrote:
 -> >Eaker's CASE statement OCCUPIES ONE SCREEN OF CODE. Anyone who has
 -> >liked it and wanted in their system has been able to add it and use
 -> it -- so the fact that it has not been part of Forth Standards is
 -> hardly evidence of the sluggishness and perversity of the Forth
 -> community -- but is, rather, evidence that previous Standards teams
 -> have understood the nature of Forth.
 -> Oh, oh, oh!  That surely is beautifully written, especially the final
 -> phrase!

         So true, Frank! The main thing that troubles me about adding
 CASE to Forth is that there are many possible CASE constructs that
 are equally worthy of the name. One that I particularly liked CASEd
 counted strings!, e.g.

    : FOO " this" ;
    : BAR " that" ;
    : ZOTZ CASE " this " OF DO-THIS ENDOF CASE " that" OF DO-THAT ...

         So adding CASE to the Standard, while gratifyingly adding the
 X3J14 sanction to the form of CASE coincidentally implemented in
 Vesta Forth-83+, seems an act of lese-majeste against the Forth
 imperative not to name something once and for all that is a matter
 of personal taste and implementation strategy.

                 =jax=

 NET/Mail : RCFB Golden, CO (303) 278-0364 VESTA & Denver FIG for Forth!
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