ForthSpace as a new category
Small things can make the difference. The number of forumistas using forth is growing and it would be nice to see an exponential growth at least for some time. We should take some efforts not to lose to many to another forum. And maybe we can bring some back.
So my proposal is to create a new category called ForthSpace were all forth activities are collected and were a vocabulary focused on the P1/P2/P3 etc can be build.
I hope we can decide this quickly as I will focus on forth
ErNa
Comments
+1
And I recycled an initiative of forthy fife the forth way
I wonder what the consensus is for this idea, and if it would confuse/dilute content from the P1/P2 threads, or improve the experience ?
And potentially where the category should be (root category, sub category of "Languages", etc...)
And should all the existing forth threads be moved to this new category, or left alone.
Maybe add C and BASIC programming sections too. Blocky is another one.
Spin and Spin2 are probably best left separated from each other.
To bring all forth/tachyon/TAQOZ related threads to one category for me makes sense, for others it created work load. So, I do not propose it. I think it should be a root category. The reason is: forth for the most looks like to have a steep learning curve. So there is some horror. On the other hand: it's not just another language but revers order thinking. So it should be prominent, not hidden. I plan to create some little apps that help me through the day and on the other hand, I want to create my next motor and motion control software based on forth to allow to interactively test a motor and immediately see, what happens.
The nice feature of forth is: words are all short, have a few parameters in the stack and can have any level of complexity.
Please don't!
FlexProp makes hybrid programs using a mix of PASM, Spin, BASIC and C easy and then noone would know which category to drop such a beast into.
It makes little difference to me. I view the forum as a flat space, and always use the "Recent Discussions" link to screen posts. I click on the posts that interest me, and then click on "Mark All Viewed" to clear out the ones I'm not interested in.
That being said, if there was a way to hide all Forth posts from view I might support that.
I think it ii a good idea to have a Forth category and move all P1 and P2 related threads there.
It would make it way more easy to locate those threads. I do not think we need a Languages Category, just one for forth.
The forth users could FLAG the first post of related threads so some moderator can move them.
Enjoy!
Mike
Yes. This. Please!
Agree, a category called "All Things Forth" would be an excellent idea. Too hard to separate some of the Forth posts from the rest.
Thanks,
FF
All you have to do is put Forth, Taqoz or Tachyon in the subject line. That's how 99% of the Forth threads are labeled.
I second that.
And take it one step further - under this ForthSpace category maybe there will be room for Forth Projects P1 and Forth Projects P2 too ? But that only for new projects.
Let us not mess with whatever is in existence now (do not move the old threads to this new category) as this will only create confusion and make finding things harder. Unless the author of the specific entry asks to move it there.
I'd put the ForthSpace under the root category as it seems to me that would be the most logical place for it and will not confuse anybody. From my experience, having logically structured categories helps.
Could I suggest a starting solution that new forth posts have [Forth] inserted at the start of the start of the post title?
We were doing that with [PropBASIC] some years ago, and it worked really well without needing to fracture content and change long standing category groups.
I would not have asked to have a new category if I'd seen another adequate solution. FORTH is just different. It's not "another language". It's a different way of thinking, and a more efficient one. As the P2's rom allows to use FORTH words to investigate into the propeller like no other way, and as this feature is not regularly used, that shows that TAQOZ is just not prominently presented. A new category can make the difference. We lost a strong voice for the propeller and we see, there is a very active community with thousands and thousands of members in the FORTH world. If we give them a home we give them a welcome. Not to have this category will be a loss for the Propeller and for Parallax.
As I wrote I took a look to see the activity of the categories. And also took a look to user project where I found the cool analog computer simulation written in forth. . Wouldn't have found it else! Yes, TAQOZ and Tachyon need a harbour! If someone else doesn't have this insight: It will come with the wisdom joining the elderly ;-)
While I wholeheartedly support the idea of having "forth whatever" category as a separate one then, on a second and not so pleasant thought, I must admit that what @"Dave Hein" and @VonSzarvas are saying is not without merit. Meaning, the brutal truth might be there is not enough users interested in FORTH to even bother ?
I'd be delighted to be proved wrong on this one but my fears are growing on me....
Oh, well .... time will tell.
But that doesn't change the fact that FORTH, and especially Tachyon and TAQOZ are very well suited for the P1 and P2 respectively and I'll stick with this choice.
I am very interested in Forth on the P2, as are some of the other 1000+ members on Forth2020 group on Facebook.
I am quite a bit put off by the appearance of Taqoz as an unsupported language on the P2. A Forth forum would elevate it to first class status. Denying such a forum, reinforces my belief that Taqoz is not supported on this platform.
UPN is as old as Goertzel is. Lisp, Forth, SmallTalk, those languages are not main stream. But as Peter brought Tachyon to the ROM and Chip took care of it, it is a pity to follow this discussion. We are talking about creating a category. That all. We should not expect to be able to enforce insight. We just need a decision to be made that stands in great contrast to what can be gained! The point is: if we fail to get the category, nobody will be responsible. But if TAQOZ succeeds as we expect, I'm not interested in merits and offer them to the public domain ;-)
As a point of reference, the only languages officially supported by Parallax for the P2 are Spin2 and PASM. So TAQOZ’s status is really no different from that of C, C++, and BASIC, ie they were all written by third parties.
Since TAQOZ is burned in the P2 chip, it is somewhat supported, but not by Parallax. We need to change that.
Good point. And indeed TAQOZ has bailed me out a couple of times bringing the chip up from “bare metal”.
So in reality, TAQOZ is even better supported than C, BASIC, etc.
Bring them all here, convince them to register on the Parallax forum and let their demanding voices be heard here and then let the Parallax decide whether it is worth creating a mere category.
After all, this is Parallax forum and they can do as they please. I know what I'd do but I have no idea what they decide to do.
I hear you @ErNa and please be assured that the matter is being considered in the background. My suggestion was just to utilise the tools we have today, and not meant to be an indicator of the decision process.
I would think that if you've not heard the answer you want to hear by Thursday, then someone on team-Forth raising the topic at P2LF should provide a good chance to talk over the pros and cons with the decision makers.
That's in coincidence with my intentions ;-)
I see new mischief is afoot! There is suddenly a new happy place on this board for our Forth Friends!
Just happyness and the challenge to prove the force of Forth 😊
Good things happen sometimes.
Now the challenge is to live up to the expectations. And not a small one at that
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