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https://github.com/philburk/pforth

Portable Forth in C
https://github.com/philburk/pforth

c forth

Last synced: 4 days ago
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Portable Forth in C

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README 

        
# PForth - a Portable ANS-like Forth written in ANSI 'C'



by Phil Burk

with Larry Polansky, David Rosenboom and Darren Gibbs.

Support for 64-bit cells by Aleksej Saushev.



Last updated: November 27, 2022



Portable Forth written in 'C' for most 32 and 64-bit platforms.



PForth is written in 'C' and can be easily ported to new 32 and 64-bit platforms. 

It only needs character input and output functions to operate and, therefore, does not require an operating system.

This makes it handy for bringing up and testing embedded systems.



PForth also works on desktops including Windows, Mac and Linux and supports command line history.

This lets you develop hardware tests on a desktop before trying them on your embedded system.

But pForth is not a rich and friendly desktop programming environment.

There are no GUI tools for developing desktop applications. PForth is lean and mean and optimized for portability.



PForth has a tool for compiling code on a desktop, then exporting the dictionary in big or little endian format as 'C' source code.

This lets you compile tests for an embedded system that does not have file I/O.



PForth is based on ANSI-Forth but is not 100% compatible. https://forth-standard.org/standard/words



Code for pForth is maintained on GitHub at: https://github.com/philburk/pforth



Documentation for pForth at: http://www.softsynth.com/pforth/



To report bugs or request features please file a GitHub Issue.

  

For questions or general discussion please use the pForth forum at:

  http://groups.google.com/group/pforthdev



## LEGAL NOTICE



Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this

software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted.



THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL

WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED

WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL

THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR

CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING

FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF

CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF

OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.



## Contents of SDK



    platforms - tools for building pForth on various platforms

    platforms/unix - Makefile for unix



    csrc - pForth kernel in ANSI 'C'

    csrc/pf_main.c - main() application for a standalone Forth

    csrc/stdio - I/O code using basic stdio for generic platforms

    csrc/posix - I/O code for Posix platform

    csrc/win32 - I/O code for basic WIN32 platform

    csrc/win32_console - I/O code for WIN32 console that supports command line history



    fth - Forth code

    fth/util - utility functions



## How to Build pForth



Building pForth involves two steps:

1) building the C based Forth kernel

2) building the Forth dictionary file using: ./pforth -i system.fth

3) optional build of standalone executable with built-in dictionary



We have provided build scripts to simplify this process.



On Unix and MacOS using Makefile:



    cd platforms/unix

    make all

    ./pforth_standalone

    

For more details, see the [Wiki](https://github.com/philburk/pforth/wiki/Compiling-on-Unix)



Using CMake:



    cmake .

    make

    cd fth

    ./pforth_standalone



For embedded systems, see the pForth reference manual at:



  http://www.softsynth.com/pforth/pf_ref.php



## How to Run pForth



To run the all-in-one pForth enter:



    ./pforth_standalone

    

OR, to run using the dictionary file, enter:



    ./pforth



Quick check of Forth:



    3 4 + .

    words

    bye



To compile source code files use:



    INCLUDE filename



To create a custom dictionary enter in pForth:



    c" newfilename.dic" SAVE-FORTH

    

The name must end in ".dic".



To run PForth with the new dictionary enter in the shell:



    pforth -dnewfilename.dic



To run PForth and automatically include a forth file:

    pforth myprogram.fth

    

## How to Test pForth



PForth comes with a small test suite.  To test the Core words,

you can use the coretest developed by John Hayes.



On Unix and MacOS using Makefile:



    cd platforms/unix

    make test



Using CMake:



    cmake .

    make

    cd fth

    ./pforth

    include tester.fth

    include coretest.fth



To run the other tests, enter:



    pforth t_corex.fth

    pforth t_strings.fth

    pforth t_locals.fth

    pforth t_alloc.fth



They will report the number of tests that pass or fail.



You can also test pForth kernel without loading a dictionary using option "-i".

Only the primitive words defined in C will be available.

This might be necessary if the dictionary can't be built.



    ./pforth -i

    3 4 + .

    23 77 swap .s

    loadsys