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Re: Make double numbers notation more strict

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On 8/24/26 8:10 PM, dxf wrote:
> On 24/08/2026 9:36 pm, albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl wrote:
>> What does the Forth community think of the following:
>>
>> Now double numbers have to end with a '.' (c-notation).
>> Double precision numbers loose significance in the 64 bit era.
>> Time to de-emphasize this.
>> ...
> 
> Moore said that about 32-bit (and double operators) back in '89 and
> still folks are finding uses.  Getting rid of doubles/input just to
> support floating-point which isn't even forth's niche (RPN and all that)
> ... seems so wrong.
> 

1) Which Forth systems are getting rid of double length integer input?

I originally did not implement double length integer input in kForth to 
avoid confusion with floating point. However, with the standardization 
of base prefixes, and with recognizers (though they are not needed for 
this), it became easy to implement an unambiguous form of input for 
double length numbers, requiring a base prefix character and a trailing 
decimal point e.g.

#-170141183460469231731687303715884105728.
$ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff.
%10110001111011000101111.


2) What is Forth's niche, in your opinion?

I have used Forth for engineering and scientific tasks for over 40 
years, with nearly all of my journal publications containing results 
obtained with Forth. Julian Noble, Charles Montgomery, and Marcel 
Hendrix also used/use it for the same purposes. The late Prof. Noble 
even wrote a book called Scientific Forth. Many others have widened 
Forth's application space well beyond Chuck Moore's original use.

--
Krishna

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Make double numbers notation more strict albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl - 2026-08-24 13:36 +0200
  Re: Make double numbers notation more strict anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2026-08-24 14:44 +0000
  Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Stephen Pelc <stephen@vfxforth.com> - 2026-08-24 16:57 +0000
  Re: Make double numbers notation more strict dxf <dxforth@gmail.com> - 2026-08-25 11:10 +1000
    Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2026-08-24 18:25 -0700
      Re: Make double numbers notation more strict dxf <dxforth@gmail.com> - 2026-08-25 14:44 +1000
    Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Krishna Myneni <krishna.myneni@ccreweb.org> - 2026-08-24 20:51 -0500
      Re: Make double numbers notation more strict dxf <dxforth@gmail.com> - 2026-08-25 14:17 +1000
        Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Krishna Myneni <krishna.myneni@ccreweb.org> - 2026-08-25 05:51 -0500
          Re: Make double numbers notation more strict dxf <dxforth@gmail.com> - 2026-08-25 21:20 +1000
            Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Krishna Myneni <krishna.myneni@ccreweb.org> - 2026-08-25 10:41 -0500
              Re: Make double numbers notation more strict dxf <dxforth@gmail.com> - 2026-08-26 13:51 +1000
          Re: Make double numbers notation more strict albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl - 2026-08-26 11:54 +0200
            Re: Make double numbers notation more strict albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl - 2026-08-26 12:00 +0200
              Re: Make double numbers notation more strict antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-08-26 14:39 +0000
                Re: Make double numbers notation more strict anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2026-08-26 15:28 +0000
                Re: Make double numbers notation more strict peter <peter.noreply@tin.it> - 2026-08-26 18:42 +0200
                Re: Make double numbers notation more strict anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2026-08-26 17:04 +0000
                Re: Make double numbers notation more strict albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl - 2026-08-27 12:43 +0200
        Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Hans Bezemer <the.beez.speaks@gmail.com> - 2026-08-26 09:12 +0200
    Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Hans Bezemer <the.beez.speaks@gmail.com> - 2026-08-26 09:15 +0200
  Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Hans Bezemer <the.beez.speaks@gmail.com> - 2026-08-26 09:09 +0200
    Re: Make double numbers notation more strict albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl - 2026-08-26 12:22 +0200
      Re: Make double numbers notation more strict Hans Bezemer <the.beez.speaks@gmail.com> - 2026-08-26 19:40 +0200

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