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From: mhx@iae.nl (mhx)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: "The Best Programming Language for the End of the World"
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2025 13:59:44 +0000
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On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 21:59:21 +0000, Anton Ertl wrote:

> mhx@iae.nl (mhx) writes:
>>> 1_0 2_0 + . \ output: 30
>>
>>Sorry, I really don't like this. It takes away my
>>underlying mental model of how things should work.
>>What happens for "10_ 20_ + ." ?
>
> It outputs 30, too.  The intended use of _ in Gforth is like this:
>
> 100_000_000_000 20_000_000_000 + . \ outputs 120000000000
>
> or with groups of 4 for those environments where that is conventional.
>
> What does your underlying mental model say how things should work?

My mental model (in a basic Forth context) recognizes a pattern where
'_' means '.'. The output of 1.0 2.0 + . then probably intends to
be 1.0 2.0 d+ d. (the reason for '_' is the wish to process numbers
with embedded decimal point). Numerically the output is then '3' or
maybe '3_0', or '3_00', but never '30.'

Your example

> 100_000_000_000 20_000_000_000 + . \ outputs 120000000000

is not very appetizing because it combines a useful concept
(allowing a visual cue in number I/O) with the need to
redefine many standard words.

De gustibus non disputandum est.

-marcel