Nick_Janow@mindlink.UUCP (Nick Janow) (04/09/91)
caw@munnari.oz.au (Chris Wright) asks: > Where's the moderate view..the middle ground..or are you really just a bunch > of religious zealots, like my friends have been trying to tell me. The middle ground is using Forth for your own applications. Forth's power and simplicity make it my favorite language. I feel that the ANSI standard--even if I don't agree with every single choice the committee made--will benefit the Forth community by making Forth techniques, programs and programmers portable over a wide range of hardware. Personally, I'm optimistic about the future of Forth. :) Judge Forth on its own merits as a programming language.
caw@munnari.oz.au (Chris Wright) (04/09/91)
Now listen.... I'm a medium Forth programmer (post Starting Forth, can't work out the Zen source code, just defined my first compiler extension - and therefor have just seen what Forth is all about..) and then I read this stuff about the "fraudulent" aspects of the draft standard committee. So I ask myself.. "What sort of a language and community is this? Do I want to be part of it? Should I not use Forth for a SBC project I'm organising? Should I use <Turbo sea>?" (I ask this despite the terrific help I've received from some of the vendors - jax in particular) Where's the moderate view..the middle ground..or are you really just a bunch of religious zealots, like my friends have been trying to tell me. I hope you're not, 'cos I like Forth, and I like some of the people I've met on this group chris %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% chris wright - a guest on melbourne university if the mail bounces, try caw@munmurra.cs.mu.oz.au from St. Vincent's Hospital Centre for Medical Computing
cwpjr@cbnewse.att.com (clyde.w.jr.phillips) (04/09/91)
In article <7286@munnari.oz.au>, caw@munnari.oz.au (Chris Wright) writes: > Now listen.... > I'm a medium Forth programmer (post Starting Forth, can't work > out the Zen source code, just defined my first compiler extension - > and therefor have just seen what Forth is all about..) > and then I read this stuff about the "fraudulent" aspects of the > draft standard committee. So I ask myself.. "What sort of a language > and community is this? Do I want to be part of it? Should I not > use Forth for a SBC project I'm organising? Should I use <Turbo sea>?" > > (I ask this despite the terrific help I've received from some of > the vendors - jax in particular) > > Where's the moderate view..the middle ground..or are you really just > a bunch of religious zealots, like my friends have been trying to > tell me. I hope you're not, 'cos I like Forth, and I like some of the > people I've met on this group > > chris > > > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% > chris wright - a guest on melbourne university Chris, I don't know how long you've been observing this newsgroup or participated in others. The non moderate view is not a hallmark of FORTH or any other language. The non moderate view can be looked at positively as "caring" about a language and it's evolution, or it can be seen negatively as zealotry/pompuos righteousness. I think you perhaps are seeing a thread that is *murder* in every language, ie Standardization. Take a look at the procedings of the ANSI C standard definition and you'll see a lot more acrymony than here... As for your choice, you will either come to realize FORTH's utility or you won't. The same goes for other languages. The debates in the respective communities won't roll over and die for your peace of mind. I have merrily produced multi-tasking/user SBC FORTH rom's for years while being a sideline observer to the langauge wars. In other words FORTH stands alone as is and will have new "standing" after the standards "debate" subsides and the standard becomes real. I'd say that outside of the standard arena there is little "committed debating" about rights vs wrongs but more a sharing of routes and methods for getting solutions started completed. And the vendor responsiveness you've sighted. Personally the only more open and sharing newsgroup I've seen is comp.dsp. And many people there use FORTH. Again if Turbo Sea gives you everything FORTH could for your application I might suggets you use it. Most people here use FORTH for speed of prototyping, custom profiled performance and mental tranquility... Peace in FORTH if you will. Clyde