Home Computing Weekly


Abersoft Forth
By Abersoft
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Home Computing Weekly #43

Anyone learning Forth needs to practise, and many beginners will buy this program.

The 28-page instructions assume prior knowledge and initially are mainly incomprehensible, not helped by several omissions and misprints.

But if you absorb the bits which describe the difference in use of computers, i.e. different methods for getting the E-Mode Red symbols, and restrain yourself from jumping eagerly to the special Abersoft graphic commands, things eventually become clearer.

This is an implementation of Fig-Forth, with disc simulation in RAM plus special extensions covering sound, colour, graphics, printer and keyboard commands.

Sound is much more varied than possible with Basic and speed, particularly in graphics, can be improved up to 50 times.

The Editor facility is rather complicated to use and the glossary does not specify which words are Abersoft specials, and therefore non-Fig-Forth standard, which might make your programs difficult to run on other Forth computers.

The documentation could be more beginner-orientated and perhaps the graphic examples could be a little clearer, but the program itself is excellent and the special features are well worth the extra money.

D.C.

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