← Starting Henceforth

Episode 4

Words from words

Words made from words — all the way down to a payment.

1:53 · Vivaldi · Allegro (RV 297 i)

Watch here · code in the app

Henceforth is the real terminal — one purchase ($9.99) for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Type the commands below into the app as you watch.

Code along

Tap to copy, then type it into Henceforth.

What you’ll learn

  • A colon definition teaches a new word: : double 2 * ; — then it's yours, used like any built-in.
  • Bigger words are built from the small ones — quadruple is double double, square is dup *, cube is dup square *. Factoring, all the way down.
  • Mistype a word and Henceforth points you home with a did you mean? hint — and a payment, : pay-rent … send ;, is defined the exact same way.
Transcript
  • last time — small words made big maths.
  • but where do the small words come from?
  • you make them. watch.
  • double. you taught it this — episode one.
  • still here. yours, and built-in, all at once.
  • and you can look inside. there's its recipe.
  • now — a bigger word, from the one you made.
  • quadruple. just double — twice.
  • twenty. a word, standing on a word.
  • what if a word needs its number twice?
  • you copy the top. that's dup.
  • dup copies it — then times itself.
  • forty-nine. seven, squared.
  • cube stands on square — square stands on dup.
  • small words. all the way down.
  • and a word you never taught it?
  • no — it only knows the words you made.
  • but see — it points you home.
  • one more. remember this — from episode one?
  • that bitcoin word? it was a word i defined.
  • same colon. same semicolon. same : ... ;
  • a payment is just another word you teach.
  • henceforth.