FASM: - https://flatassembler.net/docs.php?article=fasmg (Introduction) - https://flatassembler.net/docs.php?article=fasmg_manual (Manual) - https://flatassembler.net/docs.php?article=manual (Other manual) JONESFORTH: - https://github.com/nornagon/jonesforth/blob/master/jonesforth.S # Notes on implementation This is my summary of the most important parts of https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nornagon/jonesforth/master/jonesforth.S. ## Dictionary In Forth, words are stored in a dictionary. The dictionary is a linked list whose entries look like this: +------------------------+--------+---------- - - - - +----------- - - - - | LINK POINTER | LENGTH/| NAME | DEFINITION | | FLAGS | | +--- (4 bytes) ----------+- byte -+- n bytes - - - - +----------- - - - - For example, DOUBLE and QUADRUPLE may be stored like this: pointer to previous word ^ | +--|------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+------------- - - - - | LINK | 6 | D | O | U | B | L | E | 0 | (definition ...) +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+------------- - - - - ^ len padding | +--|------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+------------- - - - - | LINK | 9 | Q | U | A | D | R | U | P | L | E | 0 | 0 | (definition ...) +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+------------- - - - - ^ len padding | | LATEST The Forth variable LATEST contains a pointer to the most recently defined word. ## Threaded code In a typical Forth interpreter, code is stored in a peculiar way. (This way of storing code is primarily motivated by space contraints on early systems.) The definition of a word is stored as a sequence of memory adresses of each of the words making up that definition. (At the end of a compiled definition, there is also some extra code that causes execution to continue in the correct way.) We use a register (ESI) to store a reference to the next index of the word (inside a definition) that we are executing. Then, in order to execute a word, we just jump to whatever address is pointed to by ESI. The code for updating ESI and continuing execution is stored at the end of each subroutine. Of course, this approach only works if each of the words that we are executing is defined in assembly, but we also want to be able to execute Forth words! We get around this problem by adding a "codeword" to the beginning of any compiled subroutine. This codeword is a pointer to the intrepreter to run the given function. In order to run such functions, we actually need two jumps when executing: In order to execute a word, we jump to the address at the location pointed to by the address in ESI.