Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!udel!new From: new@udel.edu (Darren New) Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc Subject: Re: The Fundamental Concept of Programming language X Message-ID: <7331@nigel.udel.EDU> Date: 3 Jan 90 19:59:02 GMT References: <1470@mdbs.UUCP> <1TzGbd#48h84g=eric@snark.uu.net> Sender: usenet@udel.EDU Reply-To: new@udel.edu (Darren New) Organization: University of Delaware Lines: 12 > FORTH Threaded code + postfix notation Actually, the threaded code and postfix notation are not the fundamental parts of FORTH, but rather seem to me to be there to support: FORTH user-defined data representations, operations, and literals. For example, try taking the "string" data type out of a language and then putting it back in without changing the compiler. Only FORTH and LISP allow this sort of thing, and LISP only clumsily. But doing this requires good user-control over parsing and code generation, thus the threaded code and postfix notation. -- Darren