gaynor@busboys.rutgers.edu (Silver) (12/21/89)
I watch this group with interest. Some simple statements and questions follow. - I do not know Forth, but I can get around in PostScript ok. Kind of like it. - I am perfectly at ease with postfix and prefix notation, and in fact prefer them to infix, which is often too restrictive. - The concept of treating linguistic objects as data in the language is very important to me. - Forth code probably screams in execution speeds. It is probably very easy to optimize as well. - I go into cold sweats thinking about playing directly with the underlying machine's guts, do you Forthers not have terrible problems switching between architectures? - I don't have a lot of time to devote to learning Forth, although I did grab Tile in hopes of finding some time. Is there a terse but intense introduction that someone has lying around? I'm talking 10-20 pages of diagrams and lists of "feature: definition, usage, example, caveat". A short reference card affair would also be instrumental. - I'm somewhat surprised that Forth is lacking in popularity. But, if the language and its paradigms are clean, and there are at least a few long-term staunch and stallwort supporters, then, like Lisp, success will follow. I could continue, but I've got to move on - I would like to finish up with the news before daybreak! Happy hunting, [Ag] gaynor@topaz.rutgers.edu