The current kForth release specifications are:
Version: 1.0
Last Release Date: 6-12-1999
Systems: Linux, Windows 95/98 (on ix86 and compatible PCs only)
The kForth compiler/interpreter parses the input stream into a vector of pseudo op-codes or Forth Byte Code. The vector of codes is passed on to the virtual machine which executes the codes. The kForth virtual machine is implemented largely in assembly language. Some implementation dependent features are:
10 0 do i . loop
do-loop
and if-then
structures to occur outside of word
definitions. kForth can compile and execute such structures as
long as they are completed on a single line of input.
Source code for kForth consists of files in C++, C, and assembly language. The source code is available to users under the General Public License. The Linux version is provided as source code only and must be built locally on the user's machine (see installation) while requests for the Windows source code can be sent to krishnamyneni@csi.com. Under Linux, the standard GNU assembler, GNU C and C++ compilers, and the C++ Standard Template Library (STL) are required to build the executable. The Windows 95 console application was built using the Symantec C++ (7.5) development environment, with a version of the STL for this compiler, and the A386 assembler.