Computing Atlas

How Computing Was Built
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Programming Language

Forth

Procedural Language

Forth is a stack-oriented programming language that combines a compiler with an interactive command shell, in which users interact through subroutines called words, drawing on concatenative, procedural and reflective paradigm elements. It was designed by Charles H. Moore, growing out of a personal programming system he had developed since 1968, first used by other programmers in 1970, and later standardized as ANS Forth in 1994. Forth is typeless, and its simplicity has allowed an entire development environment, including compiler, editor and user programs, to fit on 8-bit systems with very limited memory, which made it especially valuable during the microcomputer era of the 1980s. It found lasting niches in astronomical and space applications, embedded systems and boot loaders, powering spaceflight software such as the Philae lander and appearing in Open Firmware boot ROMs used by Apple, IBM, Sun and the OLPC project. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
First Released
1970 1
Paradigm
Concatenative (stack-based), procedural, reflective 2
Significance
Forth is used in the Open Firmware boot loader, in spaceflight applications such as the Philae spacecraft, and in other embedded systems 2
Connections

In Field

Source Wikipedia: Forth (programming language)

Influenced

Source Wikidata: Befunge
Source Wikidata: Factor
Source Wikidata: REBOL

Invented By

Verified en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_(programming_language): "Forth is a stack-oriented programming language ... designed by Charles H. Chuck Moore."

Sources
1. Wikidata: Forth
  • Wikidata Q275472, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Wikidata Q275472 P571 (inception)
  • Wikidata Q275472, resolved via en.wikipedia pageprops (wave rule R-L)
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Forth (programming language)
  • Infobox: year
    1970
  • Infobox, Paradigm
    Concatenative (stack-based), procedural, reflective
  • Introduction section
    Forth is used in the Open Firmware boot loader, in spaceflight applications such as the Philae spacecraft, and in other embedded systems which involve interaction with hardware.
  • Lead section
    Forth is a stack-oriented programming language and interactive integrated development environment designed by Charles H. "Chuck" Moore and first used by other programmers in 1970.
  • In Field: Programming Language Theory, Lead paragraph
  • In Group: Stack-Oriented Languages, Lead
    Forth is a stack-oriented programming language and interactive integrated development environment designed by Charles H. "Chuck" Moore and first used by other programmers in 1970.
View the Source
Wikidata: Factor
Influenced: Factor (programming language)View the Source
Wikidata: REBOL
Influenced: RebolView the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.