This is an old revision of the document!
This eBook had always been planned to be readable and distributed via amazon on PC Tablet and Mobile.
Some people do not like to download Kindle – then the option of reading it in the Cloud is possible for – as I know – any screen/keyboard combination.
See it at
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Start-Forth-2017-Bits-Bites-ebook/dp/B073NMX1XP/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499278235&sr=1-13
You can LOOK INSIDE (above the picture) and see part of it or ask for a free sample on the right hand side.
But there is still the requirement for beginners to download and print. Most of the chapters of this eBook you can find here.
You need 12 constructs – in Forth these are Words – and they run a small application – to switch the usual (here virtual) LED on and off. This part will be published here later, needs still some work, but you can anyway read it in the free preview of the eBook.
Normally, you would now need to download and install a Forth of your choice to run this code. easyForth is on the web, written in Javascript. And, you can type the code directly into the window supplied and run Forth code – and there are very good explanations that Nick supplied. Here I made it into a PDF with Nick’s ok for download and print.
Easy Forth by Nick Morgan - type Forth code into your browser. Instant experience. Build up your initial Forth know-how. You can print this document as well: Easy Forth
One Word is different: The Word for ms
delay is different, Nick calls it sleep
.
This part of the new1) eBook A Start With Forth published by Juergen, here in printable form and with PDFs also printable, so you have lots of material for your exercises.
You can run this code in easyForth as well, but there is no sound compared to the next step, and ms
= sleep
compared to our next option VFXTESTAPP.exe .
Here you just download an .exe, which can execute most of the VFX Words – the full manual can be found via the link. Run the code of chapter 4 and 6. Advantage: there is no installation needed. You can store it locally on your PC and the word SAVE adds your work for next time. ( sorry, no Linux or Mac yet )
Here the manual for MPE’s AIDE, the VFX Helper and editor. There is more you can do, but not planned in this context here. AIDE
MPE made this available as a free Starter version, and it was prepared for the MicroBox event for the Scouts Jamboree. Here you run the complete Forth ON a controller, the TI MSP430G2553. And AIDE helps. VFX LITE 430
( ARM will follow in a later version )
Dirk Bruehl and Michael Kalus have spent a lot of their time to make 4e4th available for the TI Launchpad. As well written for the MSP430G2553. Without them and Paul, I would have never gotten to the MicroBox Project running.
And the next steps in 4e4th.
Some easy additional examples, needs cleaning up – so will follow later, just check in a couple of weeks2)
The BBC micro:bit with its 25 LEDs and the many additional functions needed a Forth. 1,000,000 of them are supposedly now at UK schools and there is a lot of documentation. As I had access to one, Matthias Koch kindly ported his MECRISP to this board. Follow the links for installation information. I tried mine using the same 35 Word Forth. Needed a few additions but no problem – help is always available in the Forth community.
I like Minimal Solutions. I got the ok to add this option of poking around inside a controller for this eBook.
3 Words: Read a byte, Write a byte, Start a subroutine. Interfaced via a serial link, a Forth can control the chip. 3 Instruction Forth
One of the new developments for using Forth: The advantages of Interactive Programming/Testing and linked to other languages, here C and ARM. Get system design ready quicker. See as well Rob’s presentation from 22 July 2017 on youtube at 1h50mins. Sockpuppet article
Vic uses the Forth structures but stays closer to assembler. v4th
How many Forth Words do you really need? Either as SW or even implemented in FPGA.
A quick comparison of what we found on the web and Paul’s explanations. Minimum Wordset
Certification becomes more and more important, especially with IOT - and Forth is a very good candidate in this respect.
Certifying your Code, by
Paul E. Bennett
The eBook A Start With Forth is part of The Forth Bookshelf.
… and if you want to see which Forth eBooks people are interested in, see how the Bestseller List is doing today3) …