Slashdot Mirror
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."
Yahbut it still looks like shit, what it's used for has no relevance in reference to that fact. Ooh, it's used to run machines!
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.]