PForthHome

Introduction

PForth is very easy to build on most platforms. The main steps are:

1. Build pForth kernel in 'C'.
2. Run pForth and build Forth dictionary. It will save automatically.
3. Run pForth with dictionary and test it.

For more information see: http://www.softsynth.com/pforth/pf_ref.html

Building pForth

We have provided projects and Makefiles for some platforms.

• CompilingOnWindows
• CompilingOnUnix
• CompilingOnMac

If you want to compile pForth for a new platform, please follow these instructions.

Custom Compile of Kernel

1. Add all of the 'C' code in the "csrc/" folder.
2. If your system supports getchar() and putchar() then add all of the files in "csrc/stdio/".
3. If you want floating support then define preprocessor variable PF_SUPPORT_FP
4. Compile, link and place the executable called "pforth" in the "fth/" folder.

Building The Dictionary

The words (functions) in pForth are stored in a dictionary. They are mostly written in Forth and can be compiled by the pForth kernel. Enter:

cd fth
pforth -i system.fth

The dictionary will be compiled and saved in a file called "pforth.dic" . That file will get loaded automatically if you enter:

pforth

Testing pForth

You can now execute pForth using the compiled dictionary. Enter:

pforth

Now add a couple numbers together to test the interpreter. Enter:

5  2  +  .
bye

It should added 5 and 2 then printed the result.

You can also run several unit tests. By entering:

pforth t_corex.fth
pforth t_strings.fth
pforth t_locals.fth
pforth t_alloc.fth

For more information see: http://www.softsynth.com/pforth/pf_ref.html

Here is a Forth tutorial: http://www.softsynth.com/pforth/pf_tut.html