The year is 1991. The World Wide Web has just seen public release. <strong>1991</strong> looks to ease your interactions with the new web using cutting edge programming techniques in Forth (well, Gforth).
</p>
</section>
<section>
<h1>Logging In</h1>
<p>
Getting started in <strong>1991</strong> is easy.
</p>
<p>
All you need to do is include <code>1991.fs</code> into your Forth source file. Next, you can define your public routes using the <code>/1991</code> word. Once your routes are all layed out, start the server using <code>1991:</code>.
If you want to specify that some part of a route is a wildcard (accepts any value), then you can wrap some named value in <code><chevrons></code>. <strong>1991</strong> will accept any URL that matches your wildcard pattern, setting the internal value of whatever you place between the chevrons to whatever is actually requested.
</p>
<p>
In the example below, <code><uid></code> specifies that we're willing to accept any (non-empty) value in its place which we'd like to access using the name <code>uid</code>.
</p>
<pre>
\ wildcards.fs
\ Load 1991.
include 1991.fs
\ Define our route handler.
: handle-wildcard-route ( -- addr u )
s" contents of the route request: " get-query-string s+ ;
\ Set up our route.
/1991 /users/<uid> handle-wildcard-route
\ We can set up multiple wildcards too (must be slash-separated).
All wildcards are treated similar to query string arguments. As such, wildcards can be retrieved using <code>get-query-string</code>.
</p>
<p>
In the example above, visiting <code>http://localhost:8080/users/urlysses</code> will result in the following query string: <code>uid=urlysses</code>.
<h3>File Serving</h3>
<p>
Use a <code>public/</code> directory to act as a basic fileserver.
Whenever a requested URL doesn't resolve through the registered routes, <strong>1991</strong> will attempt to find the requested route within your specified public directory.
</p>
<pre>
\ public.fs
\ Load 1991.
include 1991.fs
\ Specify the location of our public directory.
\ Anything in the public/ directory within the
\ same dir as this source file will resolve.
\ You can change "public" to anything you want
\ as long as it matches your directory name.
sourcedir s" public" s+ set-public-path
\ We can set mimetypes using the `filetype:` word.
\ In the case below, we want .mp4 files to be served
\ with the content-type video/mp4.
s" video/mp4" filetype: mp4
\ Start the server on port 8080.
8080 1991:
</pre>
<p>
In the above example, If we have a file <code>public/my-video.mp4</code>, then it will be available through <code>http://localhost:8080/my-video.mp4</code>.
</p>
<h3>Views</h3>
<p>
<strong>1991</strong> offers basic templating through views.
</p>
<p>
In order to get started, you should specify the <code>views/</code> path. Notice the trailing slash, which differs from how we define <code>public</code>.
</p>
<p>
Once you've specified your views/ directory, you can write views/ files to it. This can be any kind of file, honestly. The benefit offered by views/ is the ability to use basic templating. You can write any valid Forth code within opening (<code><$ </code>) and closing (<code> $></code>) tags. Additionally, you can use the <code>import</code> word to import other views into your view.
It's possible to import view files from within other view files. This is from <code>views/imported-view.html</code>
</pre>
</section>
<section>
<h1>Wait, what?</h1>
<h2>Why is <code>1991:</code> post-fix when <code>/1991</code> is pre-fix?</h2>
<p>
Forth is a (mostly) post-fix notation language. So, for example, you'd write two plus two as <code>2 2 +</code>. This is the language's natural and immediate notation. Along those lines, <code>1991:</code> is an immediate word——running it results in immediate action. As such, we use Forth's post-fix notation to set the port and start the server immediately. Alternately, <code>/1991</code> doesn't exactly have immediate effect per se. All it does is tell <strong>1991</strong> that any request to <code>/path</code> should be handled by <code>path-handler</code>. As such, we opt to write non-immediate code using pre-fix notation.
</p>
<h2>You're using Gforth, which came out in 1992. Also, it's 2017.</h2>
<p>Okay. But Fredric Jameson establishes that in postmodernism we have experienced a weakening sense of historisity such that what is, what was, and what will be all exist as presents in time. <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_(programming_language)#History">1970</a>, <ahref="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.hypertext/eCTkkOoWTAY/bJGhZyooXzkJ">1991</a>, <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gforth#History">1992</a>, and <ahref=".">2017</a> all happen simultaneously. Hence developers working on new projects while still coding in decades-old text editors. They write the future in the past and are made present in so doing.</p>
