- my mindset is shifting a lot - thinking "like a stack" *is* different
- what I used to value as one of the most miraculous Lisp features (macros) is available In 8th for free when using immediate words. That said, I need to put a lot of work in that area.
- when I started with 8th, there were no local variables yet and I thought: all globals!!! Yuck! But when coding along I finally *get* it. One should aim to use NO VARIABLES AT ALL. Just use the stack. And now even the idea of using local variables seems a bit offending ;-)
- in the past, I gave up 2 times on 8th, because I didn't get it. But now I have real fun coding 8th. Giving up on 8th is really not possible anymore! What earlier appeared to be easier to code in (like Python), now seems to be awkward and bloated.
- since I like stories about programming, I found several about Charles Moore. Maybe it is not possible for everyone to create there own Forth, but surely we should aim for compact, non-bloated code. Why buy VLSI software for $$$.$$$ if one can write it in 500 lines of Forth? Of course there is a great difference between geniuses and mediocre developers, so, maybe that is the biggest secret behind Charles' success stories
- I think I now also understand better why Ron - the creator of 8th - (who is proficient in other, more generally accepted languages) chose to use Forth as the base for 8th.
So, kudos to Ron and 8th (and the whole Forth community).
(Not) convinced?
Get the free version of 8th from 8th-dev.com and join the discussion in the forum 8th-dev.com/forum
Note: it is amazing tha Ron, the creator of 8th, is always around in the forum and that he answers all questions and fixes bugs most of the time within hours!
