Re: What are the relative advantages of Python and Tcl?

Steven Miale (smiale@cs.indiana.edu)
Sun, 3 Apr 1994 01:02:16 -0500

In article <CnnG7r.Loq@endicor.com>, Ty Sarna <tsarna@endicor.com> wrote:
>In article <FRASER.94Apr1110715@hare.europarc.xerox.com> fraser@hare.europarc.xerox.com (Quentin Stafford-Fraser) writes:
>Ignoring Tk, Tcl has two features that Python and Perl can't compete
>with:
> - Tcl is *incredibly* easy to embed and extend. This after all is
> Tcl's main goal in life. Neither Perl nor Python could be made to
> embed this easily, since they're richer languages and demand a more
> complex interface to their internals.

I've used both Tcl and Python, and find the latter much easier to embed.
It is easier to parse arguments and create return values (via getargs()
and mkvalue()) in Python; it is also very modular. Because of this,
I spent less time modifying modules.

Tcl, by comparison, was harder to interface (partially due to its
"everything is a string" philosophy of types.)

> - you can invent new syntax in Tcl.

I don't see this as much of a win. Yes, it is occasionally useful,
but most of those cases can be handled without changing the syntax.

Steve

-- 
Steven Miale - smiale@cs.indiana.edu | Don't blame me - 
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN  | I voted Libertarian.