Mirage Concepts
£49.95
This is a new version of Forth-83
presented in a most friendly way by Chester Holmes and Oliver Duckworth.
It comes in a simple box the size of a 3 1/2" disk without a manual.
The full instructions are on the disk but you will almost certainly
need a printer to take it all in.
This Forth was developed by Holmes
and Duckworth for use in developing their own commercial software
and is released to encourage others to develop software for the
ST. A full run time system is included at no cost which means that
you can sell any software developed with this package without payment
of royalties. All that is requested is a simple credit in the program.
Forth can be used to develop code for many applications from Artificial
Intelligence to graphics, games and business applications. This
version was developed specifically for the ST and allows full access
to all of the ST GEM commands and supports the graphics, midi and
printer commands of TOS. The authors claim that this version will
give developers greater access to the many features of the ST. The
source for many of the Forth 'words' is included along with information
for those who have Atari's development software but, providing you
know the Forth language, the program can be used without access
to other software. Many other Forths use a 16-bit stack which gives
access to only 64k without special programming but this version
has a 32-bit stack allowing access to all of the ST memory and is
completely relocatable.
Although the instructions give
some general background on Forth, it is stressed that there is no
tutorial included and you must already know Forth or be prepared
to purchase an appropriate textbook. Details of a few recommended
titles are included. I must be honest and say that I am not qualified
to test Forth to any depth but with this version being based on
the most recent version of Forth and being enhanced specifically
for the ST, it looks to be a good bet for anyone interested in a
fast easy to use language.
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