you can try collapse os in your browser (requires javascript), or try it from your computer's terminal:
mkdir collapseos && cd collapseos (make
a directory called "collapseos" and go into it)wget
http://collapseos.org/files/collapseos-latest.tar.gz
(download the latest source code archive)tar -xf collapseos-latest.tar.gz (unpack the
source code archive)cd cvm/ && make (go into the c virtual
machine directory and build the executable file)./cos-serial (start the virtual machine
program)whether in you're using the in-browser or terminal version of the emulator, you should get a message that says "Collapse OS ok", which means it's ready for you to start entering commands.
basically whenever you type a number in forth, it goes onto the stack, a list of numbers that are available to work with. the most recently entered numbers are "on top" of the stack, and generally must be moved before anything below them can be accessed.
.S [dot s] is a word that displays the stack. in
collapse os, its output looks something like this:
SP 02 RS 04 -- 0004 0003 ok
"SP 02" indicates that there are two items currently on the stack, and to the right of the dash, they are listed as "0004" and "0003". the further left an item is in this list, the closer to the top of the stack it is.
( [left paren] is a word that indicates the
beginning of a comment. you end a comment with )
[right paren]. in collapse os, right paren is a word, therefore
there must be a space between the end of the comment and right
paren. (in some other forth dialects, this is not the case.)
a useful type of comment tells readers (such as your future
self) what items are expected to be on the stack before using a
word, and what will be placed on the stack when it's done. the
format is generally something like ( n1 n2 -- sum ),
where the items to the left of the dash represent what the word
takes off the stack, and items to the right represent what the
word leaves on the stack when done.
NL> [n l greater than]: prints a new
line.SPC> [s p c greater than]: prints a
space.." [dot quote]: indicates the beginning of a
string, which you then end with a quotation mark. in collapse os,
this only works within a word definition. (some forth dialects
allow you to use it interactively)if you load block 123 (enter 123 LOAD at the
collapse os terminal), you can then use the word
clrscr to clear the screen. this is useful if your
screen is full of commands that are no longer relevant--or, like
starting forth mentions, if you're playing a guessing game with
someone and want to hide the number you typed before handing the
terminal over to the other person.