An Attempt at a Compelling Articulation of Forth's Practical Strengths and Eter

8 days ago

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Forth is a stack-based programming language known for its simplicity and evolutionary nature from assembly macros.
Forth allows for self-modification and extension of its syntax, making it highly adaptable for specific problems.
The language's minimal core enables easy bootstrapping and portability across different hardware architectures.
Forth's explicit data-flow and stack-based argument passing provide a unique and natural way to handle operations.
Indirect Threading Code (ITC) in Forth enables executable compression, making it efficient for memory-constrained environments.
Forth is compared to LISP for its REPL capabilities and low-level manipulation features, but with different trade-offs.
The language is unsuitable for security-sensitive applications due to its ability to execute arbitrary code from parsed files.
Forth thrives in individualistic and low-cost development environments but may not be ideal for large teams or businesses.
The essay highlights Forth's natural evolution from assembly and its continued relevance in niche programming scenarios.

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