ir230@sdcc6.ucsd.EDU (john wavrik) (09/08/89)
I'm now in the midst of an exchange of e-mail with another Forthian. After
a few exchanges, I began to suspect that we were talking about two different
languages with the same name -- so I proposed that we each issue
(independently) a brief statement addressing the following points:
(1) Your view of what characterizes the Forth language
(2) An argument that justifies the existence and use
of Forth as opposed to other languages -- why should
anyone use Forth?
(3) An indication of why you use Forth
(4) A wish list for what Forth should be like in the
future.
I decided that this exercise might be interesting to others. So I'm opening
the floor (and am willing to summarize the responses).
---
There is a serious side to this. Forth is malleable. If several jewelers
decide to beat the same piece of metal into radically different shapes, the
result could be the destruction of the metal.
John J Wavrik
jjwavrik@ucsd.edu Dept of Math C-012
Univ of Calif - San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093