Delta Forth .NET - World's first Forth compiler for the .NET platform
Delta Forth is a non-standard Forth dialect. It has several limitations over traditional standards; however it may be an excellent starting point for beginners. The traditional compreter (compiler – interpreter) approach of other implementations did not appeal when the Delta dialect was designed since computers evolved enormously since the original Forth specification was written. Instead, we deal with compiled programs and thus several original Forth words – mainly related to chained execution - have lost their meaning (see STATE, COMPILE, IMMEDIATE, etc.).
It has been stated that a complete traditional Forth environment can be coded by a single person in a three month time frame. I managed to release the beta 1 version of Delta in half that time. Despite the short time it took to be developed, this tool has a long history, being a continuation of the award-winning Delta Forth for Java project that I started back in 1997. At that time, it was the first Forth compiler for Java and was a real surprise when I presented it as my graduation project two years later.
Main Features
- Targets the Common Language Runtime (CLR) directly, i.e. there is no intermediate p-code generation
- Compilation to either .EXE or .DLL
- Support for integer and string constants
- Support for local variables
- Support for include files
- Support for external libraries
- Support for signed assemblies
What others have said...
"Well done on your Forth compiler for .NET. It must be over fifteen years since I last touched Forth, but it’s a great example of how
the .NET Framework supports stack-based languages well." Tim Sneath, .NET Developer Group, Microsoft Corp.
"I work with all of our .NET language partners, and noticed your recent announcement of your Forth compiler [...]"Brad Merrill, Microsoft Corp.
"Excellent work Valer - I'm most impressed!" Chris Maunder, CodeProject.com
"What a delight to trip across your Delta Forth .NET. I was wondering who'd have the first FORTH .NET offering. I need wonder no more. [...] Keep up the good work." Dennis Misener
"I started out with your Delta Forth. NET [...] and found it very interesting using Forth for writing .NET applications." Lennie De Villiers
Read more on my website at http://www.bocan.ro/deltaforthnet
