Which Forth to use?
prof_braino
Posts: 4,313
The ancient language Forth is receiving attention lately.
The attraction is that it is a specialize tool for a very specific job, that its another option for quickly getting application code to run on an embedded system with minimal resources. Even so, there are significant difference between the various flavors of forth, depending on the intended purpose o the target application. All versions are valid, the difference is each version's suitability for a give task, in each user's opinion.
Many first time users wish to experiment, but cannot determine which flavor is most suitable for their needs.
Please list which versions you have tried, and what benefit it delivers or lacks.
Which forth have you used or do you prefer?
pfth - Newest version of forth for the prop. Strives for full ANSI standard compliance
Tachyon - Most radical forth for the prop. Focused on speed and smallest possible memory footprint
Propforth - Oldest active version of forth for the prop. Kernel is completely stable.
The attraction is that it is a specialize tool for a very specific job, that its another option for quickly getting application code to run on an embedded system with minimal resources. Even so, there are significant difference between the various flavors of forth, depending on the intended purpose o the target application. All versions are valid, the difference is each version's suitability for a give task, in each user's opinion.
Many first time users wish to experiment, but cannot determine which flavor is most suitable for their needs.
Please list which versions you have tried, and what benefit it delivers or lacks.
Which forth have you used or do you prefer?
pfth - Newest version of forth for the prop. Strives for full ANSI standard compliance
Tachyon - Most radical forth for the prop. Focused on speed and smallest possible memory footprint
Propforth - Oldest active version of forth for the prop. Kernel is completely stable.
Comments
PropellerForth The original, I think. No longer actively maintained. It worked well for me but I'm not qualified to judge.
JDForth This has a windows development environment. I tried it but couldn't get it to work, most likely my fault.
I currently use PropForth. Probably will stick with this as it does what I need it to do.
Duane J
I still feel that PropForth tends to be the front door for most user, but pfth really appeals to me a providing the ANS Forth support that most newbies will find presented in literature.
PropForth and Tachyon presume one knows at least something about what a Propeller is and what .spin files are. As far as my acquired ability to use Forth on the Propeller
First - PropForth
Second - Tachyon
Third - pfth
Of course, it has not been even 30 days since I started. So this could all change quite a bit. I did start with Brodie's 'Starting Forth' and GForth on a regular PC. Then I did a comparison of what was not available. So of the 'missing lexicon' seemed important, but I am beginning to believe that the developers here may be on to some radical new solutions.
I suppose that good reasearch projects are when at least 50% of those you ask tell you that you just can't do that.
Tachyon is just wicked fast and fun, rough in some places, totally ingenious in its implementation choices in other places. It was very quick and easy to use from initially loading it through developing my single digit clock project. I feel myself migrating over to the Tachyon camp.
pfht, I tried the C version and then have just been watching from the sidelines as the spin/PASM version has developed. Need to load it up and jump back into it again when time permits. Having an ANS standard implementation is nothing but a good thing.
Show them to use and let us oggle a bit in wonderment.
And have fun, or else my C is gonna beat you back and FORTH, couldn't help it.
I'm using PropForth since PF2.7.
I have connected various hardware(LCD[spi,i2c,parallel),steppingmotor,DCmotor,servo,DELTAROBOT,pressuresensor,1-wire-device,1024k-eeprom,sd-card,etc) to PropForth.
Actually,I have never tried other Forth since I have no room in my brain.
Propeller forth was quite promising, from Cliff Bliffle. Unfortunately, he got a job, and we haven.t heard from him since. I never did see the source code. He might have just hacked it together from assembler instructions. Anybody know?
there was also a bunch of stuff from a guy DaSilva and his posse, But this was before me. daSilva's threads were an influence that got me started on the jupiterace project.
Tachyon for access to spi devices. A 2-prop system, one running PropForth and the other Tachyon.
NickL
You CAN still download and investigate it. But it seems all binaries and a rather limited lexicon compared to what we now have.
http://code.google.com/p/propellerforth/wiki/PropellerForth
C.W.
This is valid response. I had the same feeling from the discussions of Catalina and GCC.
There are several versions of BASIC for the prop, yet I did not notice the same discussion of pros and cons for each. I guess passions run higher for some developers.
Even so, I have tried Catalina and GCC, and I haven't tried any BASIC. That might tell us something but I don't know what.
Anyway, I think we've gotten past that now, This thread is to explore what each option is most suitable for a given purpose.