PolyForth: an electronics engineer's programming tool

This paper describes the features of the language polyFORTH (an advanced version of FORTH) that the authors consider offer the engineer full control in the application of software to real-time control systems. This description is from an electronics engineer's viewpoint, based on the usage of this language in a large number of projects, from small intelligent instruments to large multiprocessor industrial process control systems. The paper concludes with a description of the software designed into one such large multiprocessor project, a combined safety system (fire and gas) in an oil rig.