Sam Moffatt

What is TCL/TK?
TCL is Tool Command Language. TK is Toolkit. TCL is the base language and TK is the GUI extension to TCL. TCL and TK are generally said together as in todays modern environment, most applications have a GUI of some variety, making TK and essential part of every TCL developers arsenal.

Why use TCL/TK?

TCL is idealic as a small string processing language, just like Perl, but perhaps not as strict or advanced library wise. TCL is used in the IRC eggdrop application and provides the core. IRC is a text only group conversation and communication environment, and text or string manipulation is highly desirable. TK, used to provide the graphical interface for TCL, can be seen in Alvaro's MSN client, a popular Linux MSN Messenger clone and client (which has a few extra features and is skinnable).

TCL and TK are a powerful combination and can be used to quickly produce both small, but still robust enough for larger applications. TCL/TK is more a Unix/Linux based language, but there are Windows versions available.

TCL/TK Resources

For most Linux distributions, TCL/TK is installed by default, or is available either online or on your distribution media. For Windows, it is available using Cygwin or as a Windows Installer package from ActiveState called ActiveTCL.