8,732
edits
Changes
→FUTURE PROSPECTS
'''— LB'''
=Going Forth=
<big>'''Wycove Forth is fast and doesn't require a disk drive'''</big>
Wycove Systems Ltd., P.O. Box 499, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 3Y8, (902) 469-9897, has come out with an improved edition of its Forth program. The company says Version 2 is an expanded version of the original issue. The manual has also been rewritten.
Forth is an interpretive language combining the speed of compiled languages with the ease of programming of an interpreter, the company says. The program sells for $50.
The program requires at least 32 kilobytes of memory and either the Extended BASIC, Editor/ Assembler or Mini-Memory cartridges. Purchasers receive the 177-page manual and both the disk and cassette versions of the program. Samples of Forth programming
are included.
The company says the program supports all capabilities of the Tl99/4A.
Among the features of the program are:
-32-column graphics mode display;<br>
-40-column text mode display;<br>
-64-column bit-map mode display with 32 sprites and line drawing primitives provided;<br>
-speech support for the 300 predefined words included in the TI Speech Synthesizer vocabulary;<br>
-full support of sound routines with the capability of specifying a complete tune at one time rather than one set of notes;<br>
-file control words to control peripheral devices;<br>
-high level language control structures, including DO loops, WHILE loops, UNTIL loops, nested block IF structures and CASE statements.
Using several benchmark programs,
the company says the Forth
program operates 30-45 times faster
than comparable programs executed
in BASIC.
Forth is also configurable, the company
says. The means that the user
can change or extended its vocabulary.
Disk directory programs are also
in
. eluded.
Although the source code is not provided
with the basic package, it is not
need for its operation. Purchasers who
desire the source code may obtain it on
diskette from the company at a charge
of $100.
The company says Forth will provide
purchasers with a programming
language that is far faster. than
Extended BASIC and suitable for general
computing, game and graphics
applications.
