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Tcl/Tk 8.5.0 Released
dkf writes "Tcl/Tk 8.5 has been released for all major platforms after 5 years of development. There are many new goodies in it, including significant speedups through an advanced bytecode engine, stronger localization of applications, integrated arbitrary-precision arithmetic, a whole bunch of brand new skinnable widgets, anti-aliased text support on all platforms, and a new code-module management system to make maintenance of installations a snap. More in-depth information about the features of both this release and Tcl/Tk in general is available at the official Tcl/Tk website. Mark Roseman's blog has a first-look review."
Tcl's only redeeming features are Tk, Expect, and the ease with which it can be incorporated as a scripting language for applications. Perl and Python both provide all three along with a richer available library.
[It's been a *very* long time since I reviewed Osterhout's original draft text for Tcl. The minimalist approach to Tcl appealed strongly to the mathematician in me. A few years later, I tried Perl despite the fact that I was appalled by its philosophy of doing what it thinks I mean. However, after many years of practical use, I've come to appreciate Perl and loath Tcl. CPAN makes my life easier just about every month. I'll give Python a try when there I have a reason not to use Perl.]