Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!mx04.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Peter Knaggs" Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth Subject: RfC: Foreword Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:40:59 -0000 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 109 Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-15; format=flowed; delsp=yes Content-Transfer-Encoding: Quoted-Printable Injection-Info: mx04.eternal-september.org; posting-host="1a45761826e582ca99571a016537c730"; logging-data="17454"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/DY3qk4mA5ZGsJOXo1n7DK" User-Agent: Opera Mail/12.11 (Win32) Cancel-Lock: sha1:rfO9TfjJabVzCg960AnoMwumwNE= Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.forth:18051 Problem =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D A number of people have commented on the two Forewords, asking why we have retained the Foreword to ANS Forth. As this is a derived work, keeping the original foreword seemed like a good idea. I also liked introduction. However, I accept this can lead to confusion. Solution =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Replace both Forewords with one new Foreword, given below. Proposal =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 1) Remove the Foreword (to Forth 200x/2012) 2) Remove the Foreword to ANS Forth 3) Add the following Foreword. Foreword =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Forth is a language for direct communication between human beings and machines. Using natural-language diction and machine-oriented syntax, Forth provides an economical, productive environment for interactive compilation and execution of programs. Forth also provides low-level access to computer-controlled hardware, and the ability to extend the language itself. This extensibility allows th= e language to be quickly expanded and adapted to special needs and different hardware systems. Forth was invented by Mr. Charles Moore to increase programmer productivity without sacrificing machine efficiency. Forth is a layered environment containing the elements of a computer language as well as those of an operating system and a machine monitor. This= extensible, layered environment provides for highly interactive program development and testing. In the interests of transportability of application software writte= n in Forth, standardization efforts began in the mid-1970s by an international group of users and implementors who adopted the name "Forth Standards Team". This effort resulted in the Forth-77 Standa= rd. As the language continued to evolve, an interim Forth-78 Standard was published by the Forth Standards Team. Following Forth Standard= s Team meetings in 1979, the Forth-79 Standard was published in 1980.= Major changes were made by the Forth Standards Team in the Forth-83= Standard, which was published in 1983. The ANS Forth committee was formed in 1987 to address the fragmentation within the Forth community caused not only by the difference between Forth 79 and Forth 83 but the exploitation of technical developments. Undertaking a comprehensive review of existing implementations they moved away from prescribing stringent= requirements, preferring to describe the operation of the virtual machine, without reference to an implementation. The ANS Forth Standard was published in 1994 [1] and was adopted as an international standard in 1997 [2]. The Forth Standards Committee was formed in 2004 to allow the Forth= community to contribute to a rolling document. Changes were propose= d and discussed in the electronic media: the comp.lang.forth news group; the forth200x@yahoogroups.com email list; the www.forth200x.= org web site. An annual public meeting was held to review and vote on the proposed changes. The resulting document is known as the Forth 200x Standard. This document is a snapshot of that rolling document, representing the outcome of the public review meetings first held on October 21-22, 2005 in Santander and subsequently on September 14-15, 2006 (Cambridge), September 13-14, 2007 (Dagstuhl), September 25--26, 2008 (Vienna), March 25-27, 2009 (Neuenkirchen, Rheine), September 2-4, 2009 (Exeter), March 24-26, 2010 (Rostock),= September 22-24, 2010 (Hamburg), September 21-23, 2011 (Vienna), September 12-14, 2012 (Oxford). [1] ANSI X3.215-1994 Information Systems --- Programming Language FORTH [2] ISO/IEC 15145:1997 Information technology. Programming languages. FORTH Discussion =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D The first three paragraphs are taken directly from the old Foreword to ANS Forth. Paragraph 4 and 5 are a pr=E9cis of sections C.4, C.5, C.6. The final paragraph is effectively a list of dates. Except for the last paragraph, this forward should serve both the rolling document (200x) and the snapshot (2012). -- = Peter Knaggs