Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcvax!ukc!tcdcs!vax1!trolfs From: trolfs@vax1.tcd.ie (Tommy) Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth Subject: Re: Success of FORTH in the marketplace Message-ID: <1340@vax1.tcd.ie> Date: 8 Aug 89 13:33:53 GMT References: <8907300608.AA04417@jade.berkeley.edu> <711@idacom.UUCP> Organization: Computer Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin Lines: 43 In article <711@idacom.UUCP>, andrew@idacom.UUCP (Andrew Scott) writes: > In article <8907300608.AA04417@jade.berkeley.edu>, ZMLEB@SCFVM.BITNET (Lee Brotzman) writes: >> I don't think that Forth is easy to learn. But, I think that time spent >> learning Forth is time well spent. The hard-won Forth mentalilty serves any >> programmer well in any language. > > Agreed. I think Brodie's "Thinking Forth" is the best book about programming > that I've ever read. The techniques learned apply to so much more than just > the Forth language. > IMHO, learning Forth is the same as learning to think. The benefits are felt not just in programming! The title, "Thinking Forth", says it all. A really brilliant book. >> This may be a harsh statement, but I still think that the only way that >> Forth can be truly appreciated is to write a Forth interpreter on you own. > > I agree on this count also. I recently wrote an optimized subroutine threaded > Forth. Figuring out how to implement things like DOES> and [COMPILE] makes you > appreciate how useful they can be. There's a bit of discovery involved - It's amazing how Forth encourages you look deep into its workings, while most languages do their best to keep you at arms length. I remember the day that I made a WORD to decompile other Forth WORDS. Up to this point I had no books on Forth nor people whom to ask questions, all I did have was a disassembler and the word DUMP. This new word let me strip bare all the words which before were a mystery. I remember decompiling the INTERPRETER and think "AH! That's how Forth works!". I think it was the closest I'll ever get to a religous experience. I suppose that makes me born again :-) -- Tommy E-mail: trolfs@vax1.tcd.ie // Amiga 500. \\// What's your's called? $P-) -----------------\X----------------------------------------------------- "Indecision is the basis of flexibility" -- button at a Science Fiction convention. "Old age and treachery will beat youth and skill every time." -- a coffee cup