ech@spuxll.UUCP (05/22/84)
You say you want a development system for the Macintosh, but assembler ain't your style, you don't want to wait 'til 1Q85 for standalone C or Pascal, and MS Basic is such a pig you can't stand it? Your problems may be behind you: I recently picked up MacFORTH from Creative Solutions, 4801 Randolph Rd., Rockville MD 20852; or get out your VISA or MasterCard and call them at (301) 984-0262. FORTH is a postfix-polish language; the compiler doesn't do a WHOLE lot beyond lexical analysis; the result is then interpreted by a lightning-fast stack machine emulator. Look for "Starting FORTH" for more language info. What I got for $150 was MacFORTH level 1; level 2 is due out this month, level 3 next month. Withing a week of ordering I upgraded my license to level 2 -- this is a NICE package. Many of the toolbox goodies are directly accessible in level 1 (including full window and menu control). Package includes a ~250 page manual, including tutorials that walk you through window and menu creation and management; a batch of demos reminiscent of the early jerq/blit demos (at comparable speed!); an online "getting started" tutorial; and an editor which harnesses the toolbox editor for writing FORTH code. No in-line assembler, but that is due in level 2. (Price $250, or upgrade your level 1 license for the $100 difference). Dealers will have the package soon; in the meantime, they will take VISA or MasterCard orders over the phone and ship UPS the same day (I and a friend each received our orders within 48 hours). The disk is not copy-protected, but the license says "single CPU." Keep your larceny at bay on this one: these folks have done a NICE job and deserve the bread! Incidentally, the editor is written in FORTH and can be dumped off to your printer. The source bears a caveat that they use the toolbox "text edit buffer" and scrollbar facilities, but that you use at your own risk; these facilities are not well-documented, but you can dope out a lot by reading the editor code, and they seem to work just fine. I'd still prefer to have a high-level language, preferably C, but once you get adjusted (or readjusted) to thinking in postfix, FORTH is a convenient medium. MacFORTH is fast, cheap, versatile, lets you get at the toolbox, and available now. DO IT! =Ned=