Forth: The programming language that writes itself: The Web Page
If you wonder: How does it write itself? Isn’t it just the ability to write functions?<p>In a way, yes, but it&#x27;s a bit more than that. Many programming languages allow you to define functions or methods, but Forth takes this concept further by allowing you to define new &quot;words&quot; that can become part of the language itself. These words can be used just like built-in operations, and they can even change the way the language behaves.<p>Also, because Forth is an extensible language, you can create words that define new control structures or modify the language&#x27;s syntax. This is a level of flexibility that&#x27;s not commonly found in other languages. In this sense, Forth can be seen as a language that &quot;writes itself&quot; because it allows programmers to customize and extend the language in a very fundamental way.<p>The ability to extend Forth by defining new words is somewhat similar to the macro system in Lisp. Both provide a way to extend the language and customize it to suit your needs.<p>In Lisp, macros allow you to define new syntactic constructs in the language. They work by transforming your program at compile-time, essentially letting you create your own domain-specific language within Lisp. This is a powerful feature that makes Lisp highly flexible and adaptable.<p>Similarly, in Forth, you can define new words that become part of the language and can be used just like built-in words. This allows you to extend the language&#x27;s syntax and functionality, making Forth highly extensible and customizable.