comp.lang.forth Frequently Asked Questions (1/6): General/Misc

M. Anton Ertl, anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at

1. Acknowledgements

2. comp.lang.forth FAQs

3. General Questions

• 3.1 What is Forth?
• 3.2 How does Forth differ from other languages?
• 3.3 Where does the name Forth come from?
• 3.4 Why and where is Forth used?
• 3.5 Hang on, isn't Forth out of date now?
• 3.6 Is Forth faster or smaller than C?
• 3.7 What language standards exist for Forth?
• 3.8 What is an RFI?
• 3.9 Are there Coding Standards for Forth?
• 3.10 I have trouble managing the stack. Should I use global VARIABLEs?
• 3.11 What is the Forth Interest Group?
• 3.12 Who is Chuck Moore and what is he doing?
• 3.13 When I redefine a word, old uses refer to the old definition. How do I ...?

4. Flame baits

• 4.1 Commercial vs. free Forth systems
• 4.2 Free Forth systems are bad for Forth.
• 4.3 Blocks vs. files
• 4.4 LOCALS|
• 4.5 Type-checking and Overloading

5. Miscellaneous

• 5.1 Where can I find a C-to-Forth compiler?
• 5.2 Where can I find a Forth-to-C compiler?
• 5.3 RECORDS in Forth?
• 5.4 Why does THEN finish an IF structure?
• 5.5 What is threaded code? What are the differences between the different threading techniques?
• 5.6 Has anyone written a Forth which compiles to Java bytecode?
• 5.7 What about translating Java bytecode to Forth?
• 5.8 How is Postscript related to Forth?
• 5.9 How about running Forth without OS?
• 5.10 How about writing an OS in Forth?
• 5.11 What is a tethered/umbilical Forth system?
• 5.12 How about interpreting by compiling and immediately executing?
• 5.13 Why does a decimal point not indicate floating-point?
• 5.14 eForth: Who wrote it, and how do the versions differ?
• 5.15 Why is there a separate stack for FP?

6. Newsgroup-specific questions

• 6.1 How can I read and post to comp.lang.forth?