An exploration of the evolution and meaning of the Forth programming language and its context in history.
Forth, its history and the computer science ideas which form its foundations explained in a light and humorous style sprinkled with links to interesting resources on the web.
Do I need to understand lambda calculus to get the most out of this article? I made it to combinators and I’m a bit lost. Should I just read the mentioned “to mock a mockingbird”?
I wouldn't say so. I'd say you can try quickly skimming through the theoretical explanation and instead reading the code snippets provided. I've got a feeling that you're already familiar with the concept and can figure out the code - it's just the math behind it which can read too intense.
I don't understand λ calculus, but I was able to make it through the article. It gets less theoretical and more about how Forth works, why it was designed the way it is, and so on. It was a great read!