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Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:27:04 -1000
From: "Elizabeth D. Rather" <erat...@forth.com>
Reply-To: erat...@forth.com
Organization: FORTH, Inc.
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Subject: Re: FORTH Trouble--Please Show Me
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On 10/20/12 3:52 PM, Paul Rubin wrote:
> "Rod Pemberton" <do_not_h...@notemailnotz.cnm> writes:
>> Without data structures, a language is just a bunch of do-nothing
>> loops and if's.  You basically said you should learn Forth without learning
>> a critical component of it!
>
> Especially in the embedded regime, a heck of a lot of real-world
> programs don't have any complex algorithms or data structures.  There's
> just some variables and maybe a few arrays, plus the stacks for
> intermediate values and control, plus a bunch of special case tests and
> i/o for the application at hand.  Even numerical computation (numerical
> linear algebra or signal processing, say), which does use fancy
> algorithms, tends to still not use advanced data structures beyond the
> aforesaid variables and arrays.
>

This is true, but Forth's ability to define application-specific data 
types is still valuable in embedded systems. Examples I've seen include 
named "objects" that are actually data ports (or even selected bits on a 
data port) with implicit reads or writes when accessed; circular buffers 
for high-speed data acquisition, and a circular list of polynomial 
coefficients that returns the next one when referenced.

The ability to define custom data types easily is one of Forth's most 
powerful (and unique) features. But it's also something that's easy for 
beginners to learn, and I think it would be a massive disservice to 
advise someone to forgo learning it!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

-- 
==================================================
Elizabeth D. Rather   (US & Canada)   800-55-FORTH
FORTH Inc.                         +1 310.999.6784
5959 West Century Blvd. Suite 700
Los Angeles, CA 90045
http://www.forth.com

"Forth-based products and Services for real-time
applications since 1973."
==================================================