Re: [Axiom-developer] Re: bootstrap Meta/Boot

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

C Y wrote:
> --- "M. Edward (Ed) Borasky" <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
>> I may have that buried somewhere -- at one point I acquired just
>> about everything I could on Forth, and I never threw it away. What
>> was the title/author/date? A couple of other paths:
> 
> The papers, which I can't find:
> http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=59413.59435
> http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=59413.59429

I don't have these in print, but they are both from the Journal Of Forth
Applications Research (JFAR). It used to be in Rochester, NY, but
appears to have found a home on line at

http://dec.bournemouth.ac.uk/forth/jfar/index.html

Unfortunately, what's on line there for volume 5 is completely different
from what you are looking for. :(

Places you can try:

1. The University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. Their library probably
has copies, since it was there in 1988 when the papers were published.

2. The Forth Archive on Taygeta (http://www.taygeta.com/forth.html) ...
seems to be down/not responding at the moment :(

3. Mountain View Press (http://www.theforthsource.com) ... also seems to
be down

4. Forth Interest Group (http://www.forth.org) ... ditto down ... must
be something icky going on in the Bay Area Forth community -- they may
be sharing a server, although I thought Taygeta was in Monterey.

5. Forth, Inc. undoubtedly has copies in their library, since the head
of the company, Elizabeth Rather, was the second Forth programmer. :)

Or just ask on comp.lang.forth -- perhaps the original authors still
hang out there or someone there has a copy.

Incidentally, I "do" have Dick Pountain's "Object-Oriented Forth", which
is probably as good a reference for implementing other languages on a
Forth base as you're likely to find anywhere. If you're in the mood to
re-invent a wheel or two, I'd recommend starting there.


>> 1. I think the HP 28 / 48 / 49 series of calculators' RPL (Reverse
>> Polish Lisp) might be something to look at. I almost always
>> programmed it in the RPN form rather than the algebraic form,
>> although it supports both. In any case, it's a very elegant language.
> 
> Indeed.  Is there a language definition somewhere for those
> calculators?

I don't know for sure, but there are quite a few books on the HP-48,
especially assembly-language hacking. The 49 series has been completely
re-hosted -- they're not on the ancient 4-bit chip any more -- so they
might not be much use. The primary marketplace for HP and TI CAS-type
calculators these days seems to be for students to study for and use in
the SAT exams, not working mathematicians or engineers. Us folks are
assumed to have (or be able to build) better tools. :)