A Forth-inspired language for writing websites

https://robida.net/entries/2026/05/21/a-forth-inspired-language-for-writing-websites

Comments

WorldMakerMay 22, 2026, 3:51 PM
> I like how weird it is. I might use it for my site, who knows?

If there's a place to use a weird and fun language it is certainly one's own personal blog. Sounds like a great opportunity, I think you should do it.

SomeoneMay 22, 2026, 7:22 PM
> Something like this:

> : h1 ( s -- ) "<h1>" emit . "</h1>" emit ;

> "Hello, World!" h1

So, what’s the difference between . and emit? It seems both take a string and output it to the HTML of the page. If so I don’t see why that couldn’t be

  : h1  ( s -- )  "<h1>" . .  "</h1>" . ;
We also have:

  "2026-05-21T14:00:00Z"  "May 21, 2026"  dt-published
where, I think, the idea is to always have the two strings consistent with each other. If so, why require the blog writer to do that conversion?
nine_kMay 22, 2026, 7:48 PM
There's no docs or implementation, but I'd say that `.` in Forth is a generic way to print something, and `emit` may do more work, like HTML escaping.
wizzwizz4May 22, 2026, 8:18 PM
It looks like it's the opposite: `.` does HTML escaping, whereas `emit` is raw.
FarmerPotatoMay 23, 2026, 2:58 AM
Dot is Forth convention for "print" where a single . means print integer.

.S (pronounced "dot S" or "print S") is for strings.

Both expect input from the stack.

." Begins a literal string you want printed immediately.

.S is a word that prints the stack (not destructively) pronounced "print stack"

EMIT in Forth prints one ASCII character (which byte value comes from the stack).

You are free to redefine whatever you like --it's your own language! Most of the punctuation in Forth has conventional meanings that help (a little) reading comprehension.

DECIMAL

: STAR 42 EMIT ;

: STARS ( n -- )

  0 DO STAR LOOP ;
Type

5 STARS

***** ok

hvsMay 22, 2026, 3:29 PM
HN Hug of Death: https://web.archive.org/web/20260522134016/https://robida.ne...
immanuwellMay 23, 2026, 9:22 AM
Forth's postfix model is genuinely underrated for DSL design
CyberDildonicsMay 23, 2026, 7:46 PM
Time for productivity to skyrocket.
danbmil99May 23, 2026, 11:25 PM
They said FORTH!!
jngMay 22, 2026, 3:50 PM
LLM-based coding is enabling so much! The crazy weekend project now can have compilation to native code and web assembly, allow server-side or client-side rendering, manage multiple types of persistence, include adaptive compression, and do all of this without breaking a sweat.

It's scary but I love it.

moregristMay 22, 2026, 9:48 PM
I didn’t see anything about LLMs here.

If you’ve never written or worked in a Forth-like language, it’s not a hard system to bootstrap up. If you’ve done it before and know assembly, you can even get something that compiles to (stack-heavy and pretty unoptimized) native code in essentially a weekend. No LLM needed.

Forth-likes are almost magical in ways that are hard to describe. You start with primitives and literally build the language out of them. The interpreter and compiler are two different modes of the same REPL loop.

It’s just a very different paradigm than most programmers know.

coliveiraMay 22, 2026, 4:12 PM
For all its worth this could just be an AI generated blog post. There is no code, no repository, no link to any use.
okkdevMay 23, 2026, 9:30 AM
Fuck LLMs. People should focus on actually learning stuff instead of destroying their brain and environment with LLMs. Especially a Forth is really doable.
embedding-shapeMay 23, 2026, 11:18 AM
Fuck umbrellas, people should focus on actually enjoying swimming and being at the beach, instead of destroying the environment by eventually throwing away their umbrellas.
killerstormMay 22, 2026, 4:26 PM
And yet people keep using React, relying on a fractal pattern of kludges.
nine_kMay 22, 2026, 7:44 PM
React (and the unidirectional FRP approach in general) is the only known sane way to describe complex GUIs. It's the same approach that powers spreadsheet calculations.

Most websites are not complex GUIs though, and do not need React.

wizzwizz4May 22, 2026, 8:26 PM
It's not "the only known sane way". In many cases, it's not even an appropriate approach! MVC, PAC, and self-contained widgets which make asynchronous calls to an API surface, are perfectly cromulent alternatives, each with their own strengths, but I've yet to see a situation where React was actually the best way to go.
killerstormMay 22, 2026, 8:47 PM
React is very different from dataflow computation - it rebuilds a component subtree upon a property update; it also doesn't quite understand what "property update" means because it's defined on top of JS semantics. It's a hodgepodge of leaky abstractions and outright insanity.

I've been making GUIs (among other things) for 25 years, including 12 years using React, so you don't need to tell me how amazing it is. There's nothing particularly wrong with using React for rendering (although there's a whole lot of gotchas), the real problem is when people use React hooks for business logic - that's like you decide you need to fetch something in a middle of rendering screen.

PaulHouleMay 22, 2026, 4:47 PM
This post isn't offering anything better.
Gagarin1917May 22, 2026, 5:59 PM
[dead]
rohitsriramMay 22, 2026, 4:48 PM
[flagged]