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Rating: 
Summary: Tcl trick collection!
Review: (This review is for the 3rd edition of this book, and
I am only half way through the book.)
It is very hard to learn Tcl/Tk reading this book.
This book does not teach you THE language. It only
tries to teach you tricks and way arounds that could
be useful for someone already know Tck/Tk.
If the author have devoted a couple of early chapters
to explain the principles of the language, he wouldn't
have to write such a thick book full of only tricks.
Worse, the examples in the book are often not well
explained, and you have to jump around the chapters
to read the examples because most examples use commands
that are introduced in later chapters.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very good for learning Tcl, and not a good reference
Review: First, let me preface my review by saying that I am a professional C programmer, with a background in Perl and Sed/Awk, so I've been around the block a couple of times in terms of both structured programming languages and scripting languages. This is my first exposure to Tcl, and I must say I am rather disappointed.This book does a terrible job in introducing the language in a structured, straightforward and reasonable fashion. The sparse examples included are oftentimes not explained in the text, leaving the reader scratching their head trying to figure out why the syntax gives the results that it does. The index is very spotty, leaving out reference to pages where important topics are discussed at length. There is no overall command or syntax reference page, so you'e constantly flipping through the book trying to find where a particular command is defined. The CD included in the purchase price has got to be the most user-unfriendly collection of different versions of Tcl for different operating systems ever assembled. There's no installation program, so the reader is left trying to figure out what to put where on their computer. The "Getting Started" chapter in the text is supposed to guide you through this process, but because it has to deal with disparate systems and versions, is vague and generally unhelpful. Since Tcl is free anyway, and you're not likely to be using it without a computer that is connected to the Internet, why not just point the reader to the appropriate sites on the Web to download the latest versions of Tcl and Tk? I wish I could say something positive about this book, but I haven't really found it yet. I think that it might actually contain some good practical information for more advanced users of Tcl, but for the beginner this book is a joke.
Rating: 
Summary: Book with great foundation
Review: First, the success of this book cannot be achieved without the community efforts for bringing Tcl 8.4 and beyond. Tcl continuous success is without a doubt due to the strong, talented community that has stayed focus and continued to help improve on a already great language. The book covers both Tcl, the language itself and Tk, the GUI toolkit. Tk success can be seen given that Perl, Python and Ruby have hooks to it. Topics which I enjoy a lot includes tclhttpd, tcl based web server and Startkits, a simple and effective way to package and distribute applications. On top of that it also covers, Metakit, an embeddable database engine which runs on dozens of platforms, including Unix, Windows, and Macintosh. As mention, Tcl success rest with its tight pool of talented contributors and the book (the authors) clearly translate the great stuffs that have been available into something that newcomers can easily picked up and grow with.
Rating:
Summary: Not very good for learning Tcl, and not a good reference
Review: For the past several years, I've spent about a fourth of my working time writing or fixing TCL/Tk programs. This is by far the best book I've ever encountered on the subject. Time and again it's bailed me out of a problem, warned me away from a bad practice, or shown me a much better approach that only in retrospect seems obvious. It was written by some of the best TCL coders around -- including Jeff Hobbs, who currently handles many of the updates and version releases for the TCL/Tk core itself. If you're programming professionally in TCL, or even if you're only using Tk (called from another language such as Perl or Python), then this book is almost certainly a good investment for you. Even students using TCL/Tk should seriously consider purchasing this book, unless you are on an extremely tight budget and have good access to online information like the TCL Wiki pages. It's not designed to be a programming tutorial, but I think even beginners would be better off buying this indispensible reference -- if only to peruse the outstanding examples. ... I certainly have my own frustrations with the language. I'm not a TCL evangelist, just a long-time user. The language is so flexible that just a few subtle bad habits can cause you serious problems, just as a few good habits can make you vastly more productive. Those who don't like TCL would do well to spend a little time looking over this book, taking note of how often you can do a lot of powerful-yet-elegant things in TCL/Tk -- if you know how. --William L. Dye
Software Enginerd
Rating:
Summary: By far the best book on TCL/Tk that I've ever read
Review: For the past several years, I've spent about a fourth of my working time writing or fixing TCL/Tk programs. This is by far the best book I've ever encountered on the subject. Time and again it's bailed me out of a problem, warned me away from a bad practice, or shown me a much better approach that only in retrospect seems obvious. It was written by some of the best TCL coders around -- including Jeff Hobbs, who currently handles many of the updates and version releases for the TCL/Tk core itself. If you're programming professionally in TCL, or even if you're only using Tk (called from another language such as Perl or Python), then this book is almost certainly a good investment for you. Even students using TCL/Tk should seriously consider purchasing this book, unless you are on an extremely tight budget and have good access to online information like the TCL Wiki pages. It's not designed to be a programming tutorial, but I think even beginners would be better off buying this indispensible reference -- if only to peruse the outstanding examples. ... I certainly have my own frustrations with the language. I'm not a TCL evangelist, just a long-time user. The language is so flexible that just a few subtle bad habits can cause you serious problems, just as a few good habits can make you vastly more productive. Those who don't like TCL would do well to spend a little time looking over this book, taking note of how often you can do a lot of powerful-yet-elegant things in TCL/Tk -- if you know how. --William L. Dye
Software Enginerd
Rating:
Summary: Not Recommended
Review: I was very disapointed with this book. There are any number of basic programming elements that any language needs to provide -- and tcl does, but this book doesn't even address. (Or at least, they're not listed in a way one can find them.)
An example: compound conditional expressions such as:
if {$sky == "blue" || $sun == "shining"}
are not covered.
Instead, chapter 3 goes into html. If you're looking for a book on tcl don't get this one.
Rating:
Summary: **Must have book for scripting.Top reference for Tcl users**
Review: Practical Programming in Tcl and Tk Let me start by saying I have been 100% satisfied with every book authored by Brent Welch. This new edition is my second book on this topic by him, and I highly recommend it. It is a hand's on book, and something you want next to you when you try Tcl/Tk. Perhaps the title should be Prac-Tcl Programming in Tcl and Tk, because Tcl, is pronounced tickle, and is an acronym for Tool Control Language. Tk, short for Toolkit, is a multi-platform graphical user interface. The two go hand in hand, but you can use Tcl without Tk. What is so great about Tcl/Tk? For one thing it is FREE for private and commercial use, and available on-line! I've used Tcl on Sun Solaris systems, and played around with it on Windows, and it works also on Macintosh. Tcl is a fun and useful scripting language, powerful enough to do anything you might want to do, from short simple scripts to large stand alone GUI applications that run on multiple platforms. A CDROM is included with the book with recent versions. See below for a copy of the CD-ROM index. I've used ksh and csh in the past and found the former's syntax to be a pain in the butt, and the later's to lack the power I needed. Tcl gave me the power I wanted, and was fun and exciting to use. This prompted me to dig deeper into Tcl and now I love it. Although I'm not an expert, I know enough to appreciate Tcl and chose it as an important part of my personal software "toolbox". What is Tk? Tk is a fast method of developing and changing the user interface via a script interface. Here is why: 1) Development is fast because there are no long compilations.
2) It takes just a handful of command to define a user interface. Re-iteration of the process allows you to refine the user interface to make it perfect. 3) The application can be written in Tcl. Following this the user interface development is fast and painless. Normally, I include a copy of the index in my review. Unfortunately that would have taken a week to type up, because of it's detail. Included below is a copy of the HTML from the CD-ROM index for your information. I'm sure you will find the book worth evey penny, and be grateful, as I am, that the authors put together just and outstanding reference for us. This is the only Tcl reference I'd recommend at this time. Enjoy. CONRAD B. SENIOR
23 July 2003 ********************************* CD-ROM Includes: -- The tcl8_3 and tcl8_4 directories contain the source distributions for recent Tcl versions. The latest on this CD-ROM is Tcl/Tk 8.4.2. There are Manual Pages for Tcl and Tk commands and C APIs. -- The ActiveTcl directory contains pre-compiled binary distributions created by ActiveState. This includes the TclDevKit professional toolkit, which includes a debugger, syntax checker, and more. ActiveTcl is free, and the distribution comes with many extensions already configured. TclDevKit requires a license, and you can visit the ActiveState web site to obtain a trail license.
ActiveTcl is a trademark of ActiveState Corporation
-- The tclkit8.4.2 directory contains pre-compiled binaries for the Tclkit application, which is an extended Tcl/Tk shell used to create Starkits. You can also use Tclkit just like Wish or Tclsh, and it comes as a self-contained, single file that is quite convenient. The tclkit8.4.1 directory contains Tclkit builds for additional platforms, including Macintosh, that were not yet available for 8.4.2 when this CD was assembled. There are also complete sources and instructions for building Tclkit yourself.
-- The handheld directory contains Tcl variants that have been created for small handheld devices. These are fairly experimental, but I can recommend the Toucan development environment for creating Tcl apps on PalmOS. Starkits The sdarchive directory contains quite a lot of Starkits, which are packaged Tcl/Tk extensions or applications that are designed to work with Tclkit. Starkits are a great packaging and deployment technology for Tcl/Tk applications. There is a new book chapter on them. TclHttpd The tclhttpd3.4.3 directory contains the TclHttpd distribution. You should be able to run the server directly from this location with a command like: tclsh8.3 /mnt/cdrom/tclbook4/tclhttpd3.4.3/bin/httpd.tcl
tclsh83 D:\tclhttpd3.4.3\bin\httpd.tcl Book Examples The exsource folder contains one file for each example, plus a few sample applications made by assembling some of the examples into one file. You are free to use this sample code for any purpose.
The Tcler's Wiki This wiki directory contains a stand-alone copy of the Tcler's Wiki web site, wiki.tcl.tk. To browse it locally, use the wikit.kit starkit like this:
tclkit wiki/wikit.kit wiki/wikit.tkd -readonly Free Tcl/Tk Software There are more extensions and applications distributed as .zip or .tar.gz source distributions. Some are purely Tcl scripts. Others require a compiler to create binary extensions from C code. The mingw folder contains a free C compiler for Windows. On UNIX systems you can use the free gcc compiler or the compiler distributed by your vendor. The following directories contain Tcl/Tk applications and extensions.
-- applications
-- extensions
Rating: 
Summary: This book is not for beginners.
Review: Tcl/Tk is probably the easiest way to program widgest in X-Windows. The ease of use comes because most widgets are pre-built and all you need is to define their behavious in a simple BASIC like manner. The main problem with Tcl/Tk is the absence of good books. You may find hunderds of books on Java or C++ which are worth reading, but as far as Tcl/Tk is concerned, this book is the bible. Brent Welch was a student of John Ousterhout, the inventor of Tcl/Tk. As a result he can give us a students view of the language, rather than a more techinal look at it. This is very useful for beginning X programmerslik me. The first few chapter are devoted to Tcl programming, which is very detailed and yet understandable. The major part of the book then dwells on using Tk in Tcl. (Tk is actully a toolkit for Tcl). This part of the book is really useful, since Tcl is more or less used only along with Tk. The various properties of different widgets are explained in great detail. Overall, this book is the only one you require if you need to learn Tcl/Tk. Dont rely on one of those dummy books (they really are for dummies).
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