Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!agate!labrea!rutgers!apple!well!jax
From: jax@well.UUCP (Jack J. Woehr)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: Forth Pre-Compier
Summary: Clams Got Legs!
Message-ID: <7002@well.UUCP>
Date: 2 Sep 88 04:56:01 GMT
References: <8808121826.AA23206@jade.berkeley.edu> <1575@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> <6882@well.UUCP> <1581@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> <4057@juniper.uucp> <472@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU> <1593@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk>
Reply-To: jax@well.UUCP (Jack J. Woehr)
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA
Lines: 49
Keywords:zen of forth

In article <1593@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> orr%cs.glasgow.ac.uk@ucl.nss.ac.uk (Fraser Orr) writes:
>In article <472@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU> gandreas@ub.d.umn.edu.UUCP (Glenn Andreas) writes:
>>As a disclaimer, I want it noted that I like the basic idea behind forth.
(much deleted)
>>I just don't like the syntax WITH REGARDS TO ARITHMETIC
>>EXRESSION (I have no problems with the RPN of procedure calls, although
>>control statements are a minor hassle - this is something you can get use
>>to).
>
>Don't you mean that you like one of the consequences of the basic idea
>behind forth, that you get what you consider to be a nice procedure call
>mechanism. The things that you have problems with are to my mind much more
>direct consequences of the RPN is best attitude. Need I say that you could
>have the best of both worlds if you wrote a preprocessor that RPNed your
>arithmetic and control structures? At the same time you could add all the
>other nice things - structures, type checking, at least optional parameter
>lists, my nice implicit parameter passing stuff etc,etc,etc.
>
>Sorry if your getting bored hearing me saying the same thing over and over
>and over and over again, but really I've yet to here a serious objection

	The key word in that sentence is "hear", Fraser.

	You haven't "heard" Forth.

	You are all wrapped up in that academic conceptualization
	of conceptualizations about computing.

	Heck, I'll bet you say "instantiate" instead of "store" :-)

	Forth is a *rethinking* and *retooling* of the fundamental
	constructs of serial computation. Maybe it is a little late
	for that, standing as we are at the dawn of parallel, but better
	late than never?

	If individuals as intelligent as yourself would get down on
	your knees and peer through the keyhole, you would see that
	Forth is the assembly language of a more powerful model
	of serial computing.

	But megabux are committed to the old way, so who cares?

	The only people who care are those of us who have no committment
	to the old way.


****************************
jax@well	." Meditate, my chela, upon the zero-cycle subroutine return"
jax@chariot     ." Now open your hands ... see? No return, no zero!"
JAX on GEnie    ." This one is not far from enlightenment ..."