8th: a secure, cross-platform programming language

[raaron]

I hope it isn't against the forum rules to post this, but this seems an appropriate place.

I'm the creator of the "8th" programming language, which I would like to introduce to you; and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

"8th" is a derivative of "Forth", so the syntax is probably unfamiliar to you. Here are some code samples for you to look at to familiarize yourself. It is a commercial product, but there is a free (non-commercial) license as well. It is not open-source.

The reason I originally wrote 8th was because I was interested in writing an application which would run on mobile and desktop platforms equally, and which was security-conscious. That last means that it would be able to help protect the security of the deployed application (the app was a secure note-taking application).

I had a lot of experience with various cross-platform tools, but none of them fit my needs; so I used my experience writing Reva Forth, and designed a new language based partly on it: "8th".

Potential users of 8th include anyone who wants to write an application using only one language, but targeting multiple platforms at the same time. Because it includes a GUI which is identical across platforms, it is particularly well suited for business-style applications (rather than, e.g. games). It also include encryption, big number math and many other useful bits in the core functionality.

I invite you to try "8th" and let us know what you think.

 

[Lord Nemesis]

What is the primary focus. Cross platform development, Security or the language itself?

At least from what I could read up on you website, the language does not seem to be the focus at all... So why create/use a new language at all and burden potential users instead of re-purposing some thing well established and popular like ECMAScript?

Also, In in your comparisons between various cross platform tool kits, you missed mention of Qt and how your tool kit compares to it.

With Qt Quick, you can build cross platform apps using QML and JavaScript. and run it on most OS. I have been able to create a simple app on Windows and easily create and build targets for Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Since the graphics is all Open GL, you can also build cross platform games. The main gripe with Qt is the large bundle sizes.

Since you use JUCE, I guess your UI is also driven by Open GL,

 

[raaron]

Hi, thank you for your good questions.

The primary focus is indeed cross-platform + security. The language is ancillary, but is also designed around security. While just about any other language is more popular (perhaps that ranks as "understatement of the year"!), there are reasons to avoid other languages' designs. However, your point about burdening potential users is indeed a good one and is something we are working on making less of an issue.

Regarding our comparisons, we couldn't put every toolkit there (and at the time of writing that, Qt didn't support as many platforms as it now does: we should update that page). There are literally dozens of toolkits, but most of them fall into a few categories: PhoneGap (and similar), Xamarin (and similar), Qt/wxWidgets/etc (and similar).

We don't actually use OpenGL in JUCE, we use the native underpinnings. However, we're thinking of adding GL soon since there are some advantages to using it (especially for people who are familiar with that toolkit).

What 8th brings to the table and which .NET and many other do not, is a low-footprint installation (for the developed binary, not the dev package). The 8th binary already contains the support libraries it requires and so unless the specific application being developed requires some unique external library, there are no library dependencies. This is part of the security design, since it makes it much more difficult for an attacker to interpose his own code between the 8th application and the system.[DOUBLEPOST=1449993281][/DOUBLEPOST]And by the way, we're now running a sale until the end of the year, 50% off the commercial license. That license lets you produce encrypted applications for all platforms, and also gives you priority support. Details on our forum site...