Tcl/Tk
lastmod 2024-02-28created 2015-03-265 edits
Tcl/Tk is a programming language and one of the representative scripting languages, considerably easier than C or Java. A scripting language can be understood as a language that lets you write what you want to do concisely and understandably, using features provided in advance by an interpreter. On the other hand, compared with compiled languages, it has the drawbacks of being slow and not suited to complex programming. As of now, in 2003, the best-known scripting languages in Korea are Perl and JavaScript. Some people also count Microsoft's Visual Basic among scripting languages. What makes Tcl/Tk stand out among the many widely used scripting languages is that it is a language for easily writing GUI (Graphical User Interface)-based applications. By opening a text editor such as Windows Notepad and writing a few dozen lines of code, you can easily create a flashy GUI application. Developing window applications normally means you have to study the thick API documentation of X-Windows or MS-Windows, but with Tcl/Tk you don't need to worry about either, and you can build them much more simply than with GUIs such as Java's. It also fully supports features essential for program development, such as file manipulation and string manipulation, making it a language well suited to rapid development. If a feature you want is not in the interpreter, you can easily extend it using the C language, for example by adding new commands to the Tcl/Tk interpreter. Making extensions in C easy is also one of Tcl/Tk's strengths. Using this capability, Tcl programmers around the world have added database access, networking, high-performance text processing, and more, so ordinary users can use it very conveniently. As the name Tcl/Tk suggests, it consists of a part called Tcl, the Tool Command Language, and Tk (Tool Kit).
What is Tcl?
The Tcl in Tcl/Tk is the core part of the Tcl/Tk interpreter. Its developer, Dr. J.K Ousterhout, originally at the University of California, Berkeley, came to think that the scripting languages used in integrated circuit design tools could not be improved at all by other tools, and so he developed a highly extensible interpreted language. Tcl is a simple language with plain syntax, known along with Perl and Python as a very high-level language (VHLL), and has gained many users.
What is Tk?
Tcl was developed as a highly extensible language, but from the beginning to the present, its largest extension library set is Tk. Dr. Ousterhout realized that Tcl was well suited to writing GUI applications for Unix computers, and went on to develop GUI-based computer programs with Tcl/Tk. At this time, Tcl/Tk inspired Apple, in 1987, to announce HyperCard, a scripting language for building visual interfaces for its own computers. Tk won strong support from Unix users and has now been ported to and used on Windows, Unix, and Macintosh.