On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 21:29:09 +0100, Gareth's Downstairs Computer
 wrote:

>IMHO where Forth falls down it is because it is a write-only
>language; programs other than the limited training exercises
>being difficult to fathom out.

This is a traditional calumny. Bad programmers write bad code.
A problem with Forth is that you need to be quite a good programmer
to use it well.

Writing readable code is something that has to be learned. I speak
as someone involved in the maintenance and development of a
Forth application of 1,400,000 lines of source code.

>Taking an analogy with the building trades, it is very easy to
>understand the simple operation of laying bricks, but were you to
>attempt building a hospital by laying a few bricks without sight
>of the complete project, you'd very soon end up with little more
>than a pile of bricks.

That's engineering. It applies to all programming languages.

The idea that you only need one or two languages for daily use
is relatively recent. When I started programming for a living
we used several a year because the salesmen kept giving compilers
away in order to sell hardware. Programming is a discipline and a
craft. It needs practice.

Stephen

--
Stephen Pelc, stephenXXX@mpeforth.com
MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd - More Real, Less Time
133 Hill Lane, Southampton SO15 5AF, England
tel: +44 (0)23 8063 1441
web: http://www.mpeforth.com - free VFX Forth downloads

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