[comp.lang.forth] F83 for the Mac

djasson@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (Asson drew justin 301-890-5415) (12/08/90)

Does anyone know if there is a version of F83 out there for
the Mac SE/30 (68030)?  Im interested in any Forth for the
Mac (83 stnd and up).  Thanks.

Drew J. Asson
301-890-5415
djasson@aplcen.jhu.edu (I'm pretty sure that this E-mail addr is right,
			just check the sender place in the header).

wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM (12/08/90)

> Does anyone know if there is a version of F83 out there for
> the Mac SE/30 (68030)?  Im interested in any Forth for the
> Mac (83 stnd and up).  Thanks.

Some Macintosh Forth systems:

   Mac Forth (Creative Solutions)
        Forth-79.  32 bit stacks, perhaps with 16-bit compilation model?
        Text files. The first Forth for the Mac.  Supported.  >10,000 users
        Lots of tools and high-level Macintosh toolkit interfaces.
        $100 or so, I think.  No source code.

   Mach II (Palo Alto Shipping Co.)
        Forth 83.  32 bits stacks, 16-bit compilation model (I think).
        Text files.  Compiles optimized native code - really fast.  Still
        supported??  Lots of users.  Has some nice tools for building
        Macintosh toolkit interfaces.  $100 or so, I think.  No source code.

   Pocket Forth (available from FIG)
        Forth 83?  16 bits?  Unsupported.  Number of users unknown.
        Relatively minimal system; you have to "roll your own" Mac
        toolkit interfaces, few extensions or "canned" tools.  $5 or $10
        from FIG.  Source code???

   Macintosh Forthmacs (Bradley Forthware (that's me))
        Forth 83.  Full 32 bit model.  Supported.  Few users of the Macintosh
        version, but Macintosh version is virtually identical to Atari ST
        Forthmacs, for which there are hundreds of users.  Lots of tools,
        Macintosh toolkit interfaces.  Compatible with Forthmacs for Atari ST,
        OS-9, and Sun workstations.  $50 .  Source code available ($50 extra).

All of the above are competent, quality systems.  Depending on your needs,
any of them would be a reasonable choice.

Mitch Bradley, wmb@Eng.Sun.COM