Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!scuba!bgahl
From: bgahl@scuba.uucp (Robert Gahl  Sun Federal  Systems Eng.)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: What's going on in the Forth world these days?
Message-ID: <10022@scuba.uucp>
Date: 15 Jun 88 23:41:58 GMT
References: <425@hvrunix.UUCP>
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, CA
Lines: 36

From article <425@hvrunix.UUCP>, by wpohl@hvrunix.UUCP (Walter E. Pohl):
> 
>      I was just wondering, what's going on in the Forth world these days?

The last Forth meeting I was able to attend (about 6 months ago or so),
they discussed that IEEE and ANSI were developing a set of forth
standards. The group said the community at large was trying to stone-wall
the ANSI group as "they are a bunch of ivory-tower types who will not
represent the community at large" and throw all their support to IEEE so
it would come out first, or something to that effect. Now, like I said,
it has been several months, and my memory refresh isn't what it use to
be, so this is all subject to a modicum of change.

>      Are there any new standards since Forth-83?  Have there been any
>      major changes?  Has Forth gained any kind of respectability in the
>      computer world?  It seems you don't hear about it and how
>      revolutionary it is as much any more.

The advent of the NOVIX work by Chuck is quite exciting. So, too, is the
work by Glen Haydon et al on their WISC board (writeable instruction
set). This is truly a beauty to behold. Here is a plug-in board
coprocessor that plugs into the AT/XT bus, and will give you no end in
performance. Someone more knowledgeable than I can carry this
conversation, as I have only witnessed Glen's demonstration's of it. It
is making in-roads in areas of AI currently.

One question I might add, and maybe this has been discussed before, is:
Has anyone investigated a dedicated Forth PostScript processor. The
likeness between the two is uncanny. The PS printers we have around here
are 68000 based, and burdened to boot. I was wondering about a FORTH
solution, such as NOVIX or WISC, to heighten its processing power.

Any ideas?

Bob Gahl
UUCP:  ...!sun!bgahl