Forth Application Techniques

New, Revised Edition Released March 2008

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Bring your Forth programming skills up to speed with the Forth Application Techniques course notebook.

What readers said
about the previous edition:

"It's a different publication; a … set of excellent notes for a course on Forth… My copy arrived a couple of weeks ago. I ordered it from FORTH, Inc. to help me teach Forth to a friend. It has already proven that I'm not too old to learn."

—Jerry Avins

"Thank you much for the speedy service. I really appreciate that. Though I've been programming in various Forths for over twenty years (all self taught), I am learning new things that are very useful. Thanks for a very worthwhile course."

—Carl A. Helber

"I'd like to thank you for publishing Forth Application Techniques. I think it is an excellent beginner's guide. I like the fact that it explains the logical reasons for certain words, giving the student admiration for the common-sense, elegant thinking behind Forth. The lack of [other] beginners' resources for Forth makes your book that much more important."

—Barak Shilo

This succinct, detailed tutorial presents a structured, step-by-step way to build your Forth expertise.

From first-day Forth exercises to advanced techniques many programmers never learn on their own, this course notebook is filled with pithy, succinct discussion and exercises developed over decades to quickly teach, test and reinforce Forth language skills.

This is the way to learn Forth: when you complete this textbook and its exercises, you will be well along the learning curve. It presents the essentials of the Forth classes of the same name; its authors share their three decades of experience teaching and writing about Forth.

CONTENTS: Forth Application Techniques
INTRODUCTION
A Brief History of Forth
The Philosophy of Forth
Course Hardware & Software
Typographic Conventions
Some Definitions of Terms
FORTH FUNDAMENTALS
Interaction with Forth
Communicating with Forth
The Command Line
Data Stack Operations
Stack Architecture
Stack Notation
Single-Cell Stack Manipulation Operators
Double-Cell Stack Manipulation Operators
Problems
Some Reflections
Forth Definitions
Our First Forth Word
Rules for Word Naming
Compiling Forth Souce
Programming Tools
Single and Double-Precision Numbers
Range of 16- and 32-bit Numbers
Valid Single- and Double-Precision Numbers
Arithmetic Operations
Simple Math Operations
Scaling
More About */
Rational Approximation
Division
Example: Horner's Method of Polynomial Evaluation
Return Stack Operations
Problems
STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING IN FORTH
Introduction
Conditionals
Using Conditional Structures
Nesting IF Structures
Comparison and Logical Operators
CASE Statements
Problems
Indefinite Loops
Post-testing Loops
Pre-testing Loops
Infinite Loops
Problem: ?WAY
Finite Loops
Index Access
Counting by 2 or Other Values
Premature LOOP Termination
Problems
Nested LOOP Structures
Use of the Return Stack by DO and LOOP
Picking the Best Loop Structure
Problems
A Summary of Control Structures
DATA STORAGE
Single Data Objects
Variables
Access to Data Storage
Constants
Some Words About Defining Words
Problems
Simple Arrays
Address Arithmetic
Example: Array Manipulation
Problems
Tables
STRINGS AND CHARACTERS
String and Character Management
Single Characters
Strings
String Scratchpad
Counted Strings
Character and String Input
Character and String Output
String Problems
Scanning Characters to a Delimiter
Problems
Compiling Strings
Compiling Strings Inside Definitions
Strings Outside Definitions
Special String Handling
Terminal Control
Problem: ?WAY Revisited
Comparing Strings
Summary of String Commands
NUMBER CONVERSION
Numeric Input
Problem: IP address
Numeric Output
Basic Principles
High-level Numeric Output Words
Pictured Numeric Output Words
Using Pictured Fill Characters
Processing Special Characters
Problems
Summary of Number Conversion Words
VECTORED EXECUTION
Basic Principles
Execution Vectors
Problem: ?WAY Revisited Again
Button Tables
ADVANCED CONCEPTS
Dictionary
Structure of a Word
How Words are Created
Managing the Dictionary
Search Orders and Word Lists
Managing Word Lists
Word List Access
Sealed Word Lists
Text Interpreter
Interpreting Text From the Keyboard
Interpreting Text From Other Sources
Compiler
Compiler Control
Nameless Definitions
Exceptions and Error Handling
High-level Abort Routines
Low-level Error Handling
Defining Words
Problem: 2ARRAY
Summary of Defining Words
FILE OPERATIONS
The File-Access Word Set
File Status and Parameters
Managing Files
Reading and Writing Files
Interpreting Files
Text File Problems
MULTITASKING
Basic Principles
The SwiftOS Multitasker
SwiftOS Principles
Task Definition and Control
Application Examples
Multitasking Under Windows
Task Definition and Control
SwiftForth Multitasking Examples
Resource Sharing
Acquiring a Facility
Releasing a Facility
Application Design Issues
Case Study
STYLE RECOMMENDATIONS
FORTH Editing Standards
Stack Effects
General Comments
Spacing Within Files
Open Firmware Coding Style
Typographic Conventions
Use of Spaces
Conditional Structures
do…loop Structures
begin…while…repeat Structures
begin…until…again Structures
Block Comments
Stack Comments
Return Stack Comments
Numbers
Naming Conventions

A great companion to the Forth Programmer's Handbook, Forth Application Techniques goes into detail with a no-nonsense approach to developing Forth skills quickly.