[incr-tcl/tk] from the Ground Up

Rating:
Summary: Be sure you want a book on the INCR extension of Tck/Tk !
Review: Be sure you know Tcl/Tk and want a book on the INCR extension of the language!

When this book arrived, I found the subtitle "From the Ground Up" was misleading to a Tck/Tk-know-nothing like me. The first two examples in the book were impenetrable on a line-by-line basis, but only because I have no Tcl/Tk background to understand the keywords and parameters. What the examples were about was clear from the good choice of variable/procedure names in the code, but since I don't know and can't find out what "wm", "pack", "deiconify" do exactly, and what parameters they take, that was the end of the book for me.

Had I known (more than?) a few Tcl basics, I may have kept this book. If you already know Tcl/Tk, this book is probably great for going on to the "[incr]" version of the language. I just don't know if the extensions are important yet. My planned use for Tcl is probably on the fringe.

The book itself is a nicely massive 4 lbs (according to my bathroom scale - so give me slack of +/-1 lb at least!) There is no CD-ROM with the book...

This is NOT a book larded with mostly-useless screen shots to bring up the page count. All 746 pages look like they are full of good info, with probably only one diagram for every 25 pages. The text has about a 50:50 mix of code:explanation, there is a huge reference section (appropriate for this kind of book) and a 20-page index. The book measures 7&3/8" wide, 9&1/8" tall, and a nice 2 inches thick.

Browsing the table of contents, the first 13 chapters cover the sort of practical subject matter I'd want to know about AFTER being familiar with Tcl/Tk; the mind-set, orientation, and approaches to using the language to get something done, but certainly NOT from a simple Tcl/Tk syntax and reserved words standpoint. (That's what I wanted, though). The 14th chapter is nearly 1/2 the book and is a programmer's reference for the Iwidgets. Each 5 page (on average) Iwidget treatment looks like JUST the sort of complete and detailed info I'd want. The Iwidgets look like all the sorts of things I'd want if I were developing windowed user applications.

I may buy this book after acquainting myself with Tcl/Tk: browsing the book has interested me in using the [incr] extensions - but only if what vanilla Tcl offers is too rudimentary.

I do NOT agree with the statement on both front and back covers: "Open This Book as a Novice and Finish It as a Pro". I have programmed in most languages for over 30 years, and this book wastes NO TIME going over what a novice needs to know. I'm trading down to an introductory book. But I may come back!

I very much agree with the book's cover when it says: "The Accelerated Track for Professional Programmers", I concur with that view. But "From the Ground Up" and "Open This Book as a Novice..." are simply inappropriate on the cover of this book. The word "lies" comes to mind.

I'm almost tempted to read some web tutorials on Tcl and keep this book, but I can flip pages to review and reference material much faster with hard copy, and probably won't need [incr] extensions for my project.

Rating:
Summary: Not a great book but it's the best we have on iTcl.
Review: I admit right off that the book is well written but it fails in two ways. As an introduction to object oriented programming it is ok. But for those familiar with oop it is a verbose intro to iTcl and those subtle areas that really need attention don't get it. I would go as far as to say it misleads naive readers on some oop concepts by oversimplifying them. The second failure is that half the book is just a repeat of iWidgets reference material that is already available. What we sorely lack is a useful manual on iWidgets that adds real value. The book could have been 1/4 as thick as it is. The reason I own and use the book is that when it comes to iTcl there really is no alternative. But a better intro to iTcl is found in "Tcl/Tk Tools", written by the creator of iTcl, Mark Harrison. However, that intro is sadly out of date now. I would encourage Chad Smith to "finish" the book by writing a second volume concentrating on the use of exisiting iWidgets and the creation of new iWidgets.

Rating:
Summary: [incr Tcl] from the Ground Up - highly recommended
Review: I highly recommend this book. For the novice, this book provides material covering object oriented design, coding, debugging, and incr tcl. For the intermediate, this book discusses incr Tk , creating mega widgets, and the available incr widgets. For the expert, here is a reference manual for the latest incarnation of incr tcl. Lots of excellent material at a very reasonable price.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Example of Computer Writing
Review: It is indeed a pleasure to find a technical manual that is so remarkably well written. Mr. Smith manages to break down [incr Tcl/Tk] into simple, logical components while maintaining an absolutely thorough grasp of the content. I do not know if this author has written other books, but I would enjoy reading his work on a variety of other technical issues.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Done!
Review: Like James Brown says, "I feeeel good!" about [incr Tcl/Tk] after reading this outstanding text. I can see future generations of programmers looking back on "[incr Tcl/Tk] from the Ground Up" as the authoritative resource on the subject.

Rating:
Summary: step by step, never leave you behind....
Review: the author guides you through how to develope object oriented software in Tcl (using [incr Tcl/Tk] extension).

it was well written, and easy to follow. examples are well explained, including why certain things are defined/designed from his perspective.

the book covers OO programming in Tcl and Tk, debugging technique and even integrating [incr Tcl] with C/C++.

the font size and layout is also easy on the eyes and definitely helps towards providing a good read.

Rating:
Summary: incomplete but necessary reference
Review: The book treats "incr-tcl/tk from the ground up," as it says. But tcl/tk is very high programming ground to begin with.

Brent Welch's books are outstanding starting points in tcl/tk. Further, I stumbled on a CDROM with the tcl/tk/iWidgets manual pages in html. The CDROM has enabled me to play with iWidgets without wearing out the paper pages of this valued book.

In short, this book SHOULD be supplemented in a hoped for second edition.

Rating:
Summary: Royal Road to OOP
Review: This book is superb technical writing about a rather abtruse subject. The author anticipates the readers' questions and even the likely error messages when using the online code examples. Beautifully organized, written and edited... it's hard to imagine a better introduction to object oriented programming. Chad Smith should quit his day job writing code and write more books for us like this, perhaps a sequel with 4 or 5 extended [incr Tcl] project examples.