MAY THE FORTH BE WITH YOU

ADVANCED Spectrum Forth, from Melbourne House, has been launched to help people who have bought the company's Abersoft Forth package and do not know what to do with it.

The book, by Don Thomasson, shows the advanced aspects of the language but it is not only for the complete expert, as the title suggests. It offers explanations of the machine stacks and Forth words which the manual does not begin to cover.

The first half is a re-run of the manual but is written in terms which mere mortals can understand. It also shows the difference between Spectrum Forth and the FIG standard. Those additions to the language are mostly for graphics and sound which, the author says, can be manipulated a great deal more easily in Forth than in Basic.

The second half of the book provides the real interest for people at advanced level. It shows how to structure programs using the screen editor and explains the difficult problem of SAVEing screens to tape.

The book also includes the use of assembly language and how to incorporate it in the structure of Forth programs.

Advanced Spectrum Forth is a guide which will benefit everyone who uses the language, not just enthusiasts for the Melbourne House version. The book is slim and also expensive but the author has fitted everything necessary between the covers by eliminating the waffle in which many experts indulge. The style is simple and the book should promote the cause of the Forth language.

Price: £8.95 Publisher: Melbourne House