5 ms·

omg, you're 17! I am as well, see my comment [0]. the only thing I know about Tcl is that git uses the tcl language to generate the git gui and gitk programs.

omg, you're 17! I am as well, see my comment [0]. the only thing I know about Tcl is that git uses the tcl language to generate the git gui and gitk programs. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30939560 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30939560

wooosh 5y ago
Probably the most common way people interact with Tcl is through python, ironically. Tcl has a GUI library called Tk, through tkinter, available as part of the python standard library. Outside of Tk, Tcl pops up in a couple of odd places, usually as part of some testing system (expect(1) and SQLite use it) or build system, though use has fallen off quite a bit since the 1990s. Placing somewhere between a lisp and shell, it's incredibly effective as a language for gluing things together and creating DSLs, and is fairly easy to embed in a manner similar to Lua. Definitely not a perfect language, but one that I find extremely comfortable to work in and iterate quickly for certain projects. Antirez's blog has a pretty concise explanation of Tcl's features and what makes it special: http://antirez.com/articoli/tclmisunderstood.html http://antirez.com/articoli/tclmisunderstood.html
- iffycan 5y ago
  I used to work at a place whose webserver was in TCL (AOLServer). Once I figured out some of the gotchas, I learned to really like TCL. Like you mention, it's used as glue in lots of places, for instance in my Electrical Engineering classes to glue together VHDL/Verilog and program FGPAs.
  - no-s 5y ago
    I have a friend who worked as a principal developer on an EDA product from Synopsys. It was amusing how he converted all of the product and product acquisitions into TCL and whatever compiled language + a c lib so he could invoke the feature from TCL.
- sebcat 5y ago
  Also used by OpenOCD[1] for chip debugging and flashing. [1] https://openocd.org/ https://openocd.org/
  - retrocryptid 5y ago
    but that's hardly an endorsement.

wooosh 5y ago

Probably the most common way people interact with Tcl is through python, ironically. Tcl has a GUI library called Tk, through tkinter, available as part of the python standard library. Outside of Tk, Tcl pops up in a couple of odd places, usually as part of some testing system (expect(1) and SQLite use it) or build system, though use has fallen off quite a bit since the 1990s. Placing somewhere between a lisp and shell, it's incredibly effective as a language for gluing things together and creating DSLs, and is fairly easy to embed in a manner similar to Lua. Definitely not a perfect language, but one that I find extremely comfortable to work in and iterate quickly for certain projects. Antirez's blog has a pretty concise explanation of Tcl's features and what makes it special: http://antirez.com/articoli/tclmisunderstood.html http://antirez.com/articoli/tclmisunderstood.html

iffycan 5y ago
I used to work at a place whose webserver was in TCL (AOLServer). Once I figured out some of the gotchas, I learned to really like TCL. Like you mention, it's used as glue in lots of places, for instance in my Electrical Engineering classes to glue together VHDL/Verilog and program FGPAs.
- no-s 5y ago
  I have a friend who worked as a principal developer on an EDA product from Synopsys. It was amusing how he converted all of the product and product acquisitions into TCL and whatever compiled language + a c lib so he could invoke the feature from TCL.
sebcat 5y ago
Also used by OpenOCD[1] for chip debugging and flashing. [1] https://openocd.org/ https://openocd.org/
- retrocryptid 5y ago
  but that's hardly an endorsement.