From jhobbs@cs.uoregon.edu Thu Oct 9 22:32:28 CDT 1997 Article: 73725 of comp.lang.tcl Path: uuneo.neosoft.com!news2.amd.com!uunet!in3.uu.net!news.monmouth.com!news-pen-4.sprintlink.net!206.229.87.26!news-east.sprintlink.net!news-dc-26.sprintlink.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news-pull.sprintlink.net!news-in-east.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!167.142.225.6!newsrelay.netins.net!usenet.cat.pdx.edu!cs.uoregon.edu!not-for-mail From: jhobbs@cs.uoregon.edu (Jeffrey Hobbs) Newsgroups: comp.lang.tcl Subject: Re: SUN supports Tcl/Tk -- When it stops ? Date: 7 Oct 1997 09:40:48 -0700 Organization: University of Oregon Computer and Information Sciences Dept. Lines: 83 Message-ID: <61domg$c6b@psychotix.cs.uoregon.edu> References: <61bd4r$p6e$1@news.ccit.arizona.edu> <61bl3a$93g$1@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> <61d6kt$br5@psychotix.cs.uoregon.edu> <61dd11$sco$1@news.net-quest.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: psychotix.cs.uoregon.edu Xref: uuneo.neosoft.com comp.lang.tcl:73725 -Jeffrey Hobbs expounded the following: -: Too true. You see it while the language is with Sun, and people -: aren't going to abandon it *if* Sun thinks they have a better -: alternative (yeah, right). Tcl is not so big and ugly (only about -: 115K LOC for Tcl8.0) that it can't be managed in true net fashion. -: However, since Sun saw the light and added a feather to its cap, the -: Tcl group has been able to move the language forward at a rapid pace -: (although never fast enough for some of you whiners ;^) ), taking -: Tcl/Tk to a level that no other scripting language has been before. J.M. Ivler effervesced a response: -Camera pans from Jeff looking skyward to the dark vistas of space, stars -flash by as we are propelled pass them in a seemingly endless flight (ala -Superman I - the flight to earth) we slow as we enter a small solar system -and see a planet being hammered by rays from the large white round objects -(they look like giant pearls). We dive through the cloud cover to see -small little TK widgets being dragged off "perl-ies" who claim that they -can use them better... Then, as we slowly pan to the west we see the -temple of the "SUN" from which comes the Ouster carrying forth Tcl8.0... And upon the tablets of Tcl8.0 were set forth many new commandments. The commandments were thus revealed to the masses: * Though shalt have byte compilation * And the people were pleased. But "Lo," some cried out, "We cannot save our byte codes, and the scoping is the same", yet the Ouster, unperturbed, was only beginning... * Though shalt have namespaces * And the people were further pleased. But "Hark," cried out some, "Where is Itcl3.0? And what of nulls in strings?". The Ouster wrinkled his brow and scanned the horizon for Disciple McLennan, who was not to be found. Before the crowd could become more restless, the Ouster continued... * Though shalt have binary and serial i/o * And the croon of ioioio was heard across the land. But "Yet," came a cry >from the corner, "Why didn't you add little things like random numbers and chmod()?". Disciple Diekhans snickered, as the Ouster, irritated by the interruptions, continued on... * Though shalt have random numbers and better native file support * And the people were calmed. But "Hey," came a cry estranged people of the unhappy Land of Windoz, "We want better platform specific features." The Ouster cast his gaze towards the neophytes and spoke: * Though shalt have registry and resource fork support * And the people were appeased. But "Lo," cried another, "What of the hallowed Tk have you changed?". The Ouster cleared his mighty throat and said: * Though shalt have true native look and feel * And the people were awed. The gathering was silent for a few moments, and the Ouster was allowed to continue: * Though shalt have application embedding and native menus * And the people stirred again. A cry came forth, "But they don't really work on my platform". The Ouster, obviously annoyed at the constant transgressions of his children, continued on rapidly: * Though shalt have a new font mechanism, HTTP support, a new * notifier, safe-Tcl enhancements, and more free sources * And the people were mollified. But "Wait," cried yet another, "What about the C API, better regexp support, megawidget support, stand-alone executables, more widgets, multiple thread support, drag and drop, printing support, and image and canvas overhaul?". The Ouster glowered and was silent. The people cried, "Speak, Lord; for thy servants heareth". The Ouster, no longer patient with his flock, smot(h)e(red) them with a feather pillow. Here endeth the lesson. -- Jeffrey Hobbs "I'm really just a Tcl-bot" jeff.hobbs at acm.org | Jeffrey.Hobbs at oen.siemens.de