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If C is a "portable assembler", then Forth is a "non-portable assembler" (many people roll their own, which resulted in a proliferation of non-compabile version
by jll29 6y ago
If C is a "portable assembler", then Forth is a "non-portable assembler" (many people roll their own, which resulted in a proliferation of non-compabile versions).
Neat little language, small enough to pick it up in one afternoon, versatile for tiny to small projects, in particular embedded systems and control software, but nothing you should use for anything that involves medium to large size or more than a single developer.
Languages similar to Forth are often used as intermediate languages in portable compilers, in particular ones written for educational purposes, because it's easy to generate code for stack machines (no register allocation needed).
- lebuffon 6y agoIt's 50 years since the early concepts in this Forth article were written. A few things happened along the way. ;) Here is a Forth program with 1.2 million LOC. (It builds in seconds I am told) Candy is a construction project estimator and management tool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13loLq5qswM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13loLq5qswM Written in VFX Forth, a native code compiler with C library linker, OOP, Gui Generator and lots of cool stuff. Comparing hobbyist Forth systems to modern Forth systems is like comparing Small C to GCC or Clang. *I have no connection to MPE UK except that I have used their embedded compilers in the past.
- anthk 6y agoHey, I use 4th. It may not be Gforth or Color Forth, but is not that bad :).