Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!umich!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!willett!ForthNet
From: ForthNet@willett.UUCP (ForthNet articles from GEnie)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Basics of the Forth Language
Message-ID: <235.UUL1.3#5129@willett.UUCP>
Date: 10 Jan 90 03:10:57 GMT
Organization: Latest Link in ForthNet Chain (Pittsburgh, PA)
Lines: 32


 Date: 01-08-90 (10:31)              Number: 1549 (Echo)
   To: ARCHIE WARNOCK                Refer#: 1539
 From: STEVE PALINCSAR                 Read: NO
 Subj: BASICS OF THE FORTH LANGU     Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE

 And at the same time, again following what Ray Duncan has said, it seems
 to be a smart thing these days to understand C -- since so much that 
 appears in journals uses C to illustrate and explain.  So I've decided 
 to learn enough about C this year to be able to do that.  And so far, 
 it's been _most_ illuminating.  There's a language that's supposed to 
 have a small core, right?  Just like what the embedded systems folks 
 want of a "lean forth."  But part of every C system is an extensive set 
 of library functions that "aren't part of C" but seem to be standard 
 with every commercial C.  And amazingly enough, they provide the sort of
 functionality that comes in forth only with "fat" systems... and then 
 some.  Indeed, it kind of got me mad to see (after the days of trouble I
 spent figuring out how to translate the selection sort algorighm from 
 Sedgewick's Pascal, which I don't know, and Knuth's MIX, which nobody 
 knows!, into forth, that C systems have a quicksort function right there
 in the box.

 In fact, I think if most of the "lean and mean" proponents you run into 
 here took a look at what comes in the box with a commercial C system 
 (and that doesn't even count what you can get with add-on libraries) and
 compare it with the "here's your ingot of pig iron, there's a pile of 
 coal, all you need to do is build a forge, make some steel, and create 
 yourself some tools" approach they advocate for forth, they might just 
 see some reasons why C is popular!  
-----
This message came from GEnie via willett through a semi-automated process.
Report problems to: 'uunet!willett!dwp' or 'willett!dwp@gateway.sei.cmu.edu'