If in reading this introduction, you've come to realize that "Hey, Tcl is just like Lisp, but without a brain, and with syntax on steroids", you might wonder why Lisp isn't a more popular scripting language than Tcl. Lisp hasn't been a complete failure, by the way; it is used as an extension language by users of some popular programs, notably AutoCAD. But Tcl has been much more successful. It has been compiled into hundreds of larger programs, including AOLserver, which is why we wrote this book.
As a software developer, you're unlikely to get rich. So you might as well try to get through your life in such a way that you make a difference to the world. Tcl illustrates one way:
make something that is simple enough for almost everyone to understand
give away your source code
explain how to weave your source code in with other systems
Comments
Who else here read Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing, used AOLserver, or attended an ArsDigita workshop or ADuni?
Chapter 10: Sites That Are Really Programs
https://philip.greenspun.com/panda/server-programming
Tcl for Web Nerds
by Hal Abelson, Philip Greenspun, and Lydia Sandon
https://philip.greenspun.com/tcl/
If in reading this introduction, you've come to realize that "Hey, Tcl is just like Lisp, but without a brain, and with syntax on steroids", you might wonder why Lisp isn't a more popular scripting language than Tcl. Lisp hasn't been a complete failure, by the way; it is used as an extension language by users of some popular programs, notably AutoCAD. But Tcl has been much more successful. It has been compiled into hundreds of larger programs, including AOLserver, which is why we wrote this book.
As a software developer, you're unlikely to get rich. So you might as well try to get through your life in such a way that you make a difference to the world. Tcl illustrates one way:
...