From owner-freebsd-questions Thu Mar 14 15:10:02 1996 Return-Path: owner-questions Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) id PAA09748 for questions-outgoing; Thu, 14 Mar 1996 15:10:02 -0800 (PST) Received: from who.cdrom.com (who.cdrom.com [204.216.27.3]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) with SMTP id PAA09695 for ; Thu, 14 Mar 1996 15:10:00 -0800 (PST) Received: from genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au [129.127.96.120]) by who.cdrom.com (8.6.12/8.6.11) with ESMTP id PAA09150 for ; Thu, 14 Mar 1996 15:09:59 -0800 Received: from msmith@localhost by genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (8.6.12/8.6.9) id JAA09670; Fri, 15 Mar 1996 09:43:15 +1030 From: Michael Smith Message-Id: <199603142313.JAA09670@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> Subject: Re: Book recommendations To: frankd@yoda.fdt.net (Frank) Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 09:43:14 +1030 (CST) Cc: msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org In-Reply-To: from "Frank" at Mar 14, 96 05:47:37 pm MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-questions@FreeBSD.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Frank stands accused of saying: > >> ...and in particular the TclX dialect. This gives you easy GUI programming, >> networking and just about everything (apart from fast math 8) that you could >> possibly want in a language. Being interpreted, it's also nice and easy >> to work with. > > Does being an interpreted language mean slow as molasses? If so, is there Not at all. As with any language, your programming style can have a significant effect on the speed of your code, but unless you're engaging in lots of numeric operations, Tcl is pretty quick. > another relatively easy to learn alternative for programming in X without > a speed hit? Is it feasible to program for X using straight C? I take it > as a given that C is the way to go for text based programs. True? Not necessarily. One of the pleasant things about Unix is the staggering plethora of languages available; if C doesn't spin your propellor, you've only eliminated one of literally dozens of possibilities. Another important thing about Tcl/Tk in relation to the first question; from the start it was designed as a 'glue language' for large programs. You write your low-level code in C and provide hooks to the Tcl interpreter, and then write the top-level program flow control in Tcl. This gives you the best of both worlds; you can use C for its performance and complex data structure support, and Tcl for its easy hackability and simple GUI interface. I'd really recommend a trip to http://www.sunlabs.com/research/tcl/, this is the "official" tcl homepage, but it also contains links to a number of other resources, including a large collection of discussions comparing Tcl and a number of other languages. It makes for very interesting reading. > Frank Seltzer -- ]] Mike Smith, Software Engineer msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au [[ ]] Genesis Software genesis@atrad.adelaide.edu.au [[ ]] High-speed data acquisition and (GSM mobile) 0411-222-496 [[ ]] realtime instrument control (ph/fax) +61-8-267-3039 [[ ]] Collector of old Unix hardware. "Where are your PEZ?" The Tick [[