One of the things to understand about Forth is
that it can be considered to be a "language development
language". Forth is based upon defining >small< bits
of work (called "words"). As you build new words you can
then use those words to build new words. At each level
the actual size of a word definition should be rather
small -- if not, you are still thinking in another language.
Of course, as your dictionary grows you have more and more
powerful concepts encapsulated as words & once you have
a working vocabulary that you are comfortable with, you can
do anything you want fairly quickly.
The slow part, especially for new programmers, is to develop
that working vocabulary.
btw, Neal, I'm still a little hazy on how to make use
of resources (such as forms) with Quartus. Admittedly
I haven't checked back at your site for quite a while.
Are there examples available now that show a) how to
set up a form resource and b) how to make use of it?
--
-Richard M. Hartman
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
186,000 mi./sec ... not just a good idea, it's the LAW!
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Neal Bridges [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 11:18 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: re: Quartus Forth
>
>
> >Neal - Thanks for posting about your Quartus Forth product.
> Now you've
> >really done it: not only is all my time at work taken up with Palm
> >programming (CW), but now I'll be sucked into that
> programming daze when
> >away from the office (I promise, no programming while
> driving, really).
> >Never played with Forth until last night, although I had
> read a few snippets
> >about it over the years.
>
> Being able to write real apps right on-board the device is
> addictive. One
> of the best parts of having a development environment always
> on-hand is
> that I can try new ideas as soon as I have them -- my development
> productivity has gone up considerably as a result.
>
> >I get the impression Forth is in its prime with low-level embedded
> >applications, although it is purported to do anything one
> wants with typical
> >programmer productivity claimed at 10 times faster than
> programming in C.
> >Could one use it to efficiently write a typical "real world"
> large PalmOS
> >business application requiring lots of UI, database tables, string
> >manipulation, complex business logic, etc?
>
> It takes a little time to become proficient in any new
> language, and Forth
> encourages a new way of thinking that you may not already
> have under your
> belt before it 'clicks in' -- but at that point the
> productivity estimates
> are on the mark. It's a remarkably powerful and expressive language,
> shaped by years of real-life use.
>
> Quartus Forth can be used to develop everything from simple concept
> protyping to large-scale projects.
>
> >It would be an interesting project to port my little
> database engine over to
> >Quartus Forth.
>
> Let me know if you have any questions!
>
> Neal Bridges
> <http://www.interlog.com/~nbridges/> Home of Quartus Forth!
>
