97 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
97 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
## RETRO FORTH
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RETRO is a modern, pragmatic Forth drawing influences from many
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sources. It's clean, elegant, tiny, and easy to grasp and adapt
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to various uses.
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Features:
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- Open Source (ISC License)
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- Portable (runs on a MISC-style virtual machine)
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- Small source & binaries
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- Builds into a single, self contained binary for easy deployment
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- Sources in literate format, using a Markdown variant
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## Quick Start
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For most systems (FreeBSD, NetBSD, macOS, Linux):
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make
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You will need a standard C compiler and `make`. The `ri` binary
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requires (n)curses, but you can ignore any build/link errors by
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doing:
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make -kis
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If you are building an an older Linux system and are running
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into problems, try using the `build.sh` script:
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sh build.sh
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Or the alternate `Makefile.linux':
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make -f Makefile.linux
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## Executables
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Binaries will be placed in the `bin` directory.
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### rre
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Short for `run retro and exit`, this is the primary interface
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for RETRO. The `rre` interface is used to run the examples and
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Atua Gopher and HTTP servers that power forthworks.com.
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`rre` embeds the RETRO image into the binary, making it trivial
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to copy and deploy.
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The `rre` interface also extends the language with many new
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words and vocabularies, adding scripting, file i/o, gopher, and
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floating point math support.
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### repl
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This is a basic `read-evaluate-print-loop` for interactive use.
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It's intended for quick tests and as an easy starting point for
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new interfaces.
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The `repl` interface looks for the RETRO image (`ngaImage`) in
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the current working. If not found, this will use an embedded
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copy.
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### ri
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`ri` is an interactive, (n)curses based interface inspired by
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the interface used around 2001 with RETRO4. It provides an
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output area and then an input area at the bottom. Input is
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processed as it is entered, and the top stack items appear to
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the right of the input.
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It's useful for playing around with new ideas and seeing how
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the stack works.
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## Commercial Versions
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I provide proprietary versions of RETRO for iOS and macOS.
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These use a custom, dual pane editor-based environment and
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some platform specific words and extensions. They do use the
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same image and virtual machine as `rre`, `repl`, etc.
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iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/retro-forth-12/id1170943580?ls=1&mt=8
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macOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/retro-forth/id1317494014?ls=1&mt=12
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The macOS application is also availble for free, though the
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source is not published.
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Proceeds from these are used to pay for various project related
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expenses (vps, domains, hardware upgrades, and an occasional
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cup of tea).
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## Alternative Implementations
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This source tree includes implementations in C#, JavaScript,
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Pascal, and Python. These are not officially supported, but
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are provided for your use if the C implementation will not
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suffice.
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