[comp.lang.forth] Language, Operating System, Hardware for Industrial Process Control.

rajuk@ee.umr.edu (Raju Khubchandani) (09/18/90)

I would like to know if there are any documentary stories about Forth's     
application for Industrial controls, such as to open/close control valves  
and other actuators based on input data from sensors, in real-time for process
control.

Comparision of C versus Forth for above types of applications. 

Since Forth is it's own operating system, how does it compare with other
commercial real-time operating systems.

Any comments and pointers to sources relevant to computerised process control
will be greatly appreciated, since this is part of my Master's degree in EE
thesis. 

Lastly, what would be a good chip, DSP's  compared to  '386 or others in general
for these applications.

Thanks and Regards,

Raju

walden@dip.eecs.umich.edu (Eugene Marvin Walden) (09/18/90)

In article <1405@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> rajuk@ee.umr.edu (Raju Khubchandani) writes:

<stuff about Forth deleted>

   Make sure you are wary of who you are getting advice from. I am not sure 
why, but it seems that every person I've talked to who claimed he was a Forth
programmer seemed to be romantically involved with the language. I don't think
I ever got an objective opinion from  a Forth programmer-- they all insisted,
with gleaming eyes that, "Forth can do *anything*!!!!!" 
   All sarcasm aside, the feel that I got was that Forth was good for a small,
embedded application. If you are involved in a project that will have many
communicating modules, though, Forth may not be appropriate, because of its
explicit stack-based parameter passing. This can produce errors that are hard
to detect. 
   I'm sure there is a member of the Forth Cult out there who will insist that
Forth is great for everything, but I remain unconvinced.

>Raju

   - Eugene Walden (walden@dip.eecs.umich.edu)

nathan@vitec.UUCP (Nathan Banks) (09/19/90)

In article <1405@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> rajuk@ee.umr.edu (Raju Khubchandani) writes:

>Since Forth is it's own operating system, how does it compare with other
>commercial real-time operating systems.
>
Check with Vicram Sing Sohal at Lynx, Inc. I believe he may have a comparison
of Forth and LynxOS - realtime Unix. You can reach him at 
			uunet!lynx!vik
Nathan Banks