Tcl is an interpreted script language developed by Dr. John Ousterhout at the University of California, Berkeley, and now developed and maintained by Scriptics. Tcl is comparable to:

• Netscape JavaScript
• Microsoft's Visual Basic
• The UNIX-derived Perl
• IBM's REXX

In general, script languages are easier and faster to code in than the more structured, compiled languages such as C and C++. Script languages are sometimes considered good "glue" languages for tying several compiled programs together. Or, as stand-alone programs, they can allow you to create simple but powerful effects on their own. TclBlend is a version of Tcl that can access certain Java language facilities.

Tcl has a companion program, Tk (Tool Kit), to help create a graphical user interface with Tcl.

Selected Links

Clif Flynt's Tcl/Tk Web site provides links to a Tcl tutorial, examples, and the Tcl/Tk Consortium.

You can find out more about Tcl and TK in this Web version of Brent Welch's Practical Programming in Tcl and Tk.

Selected Books