Develop Cross-Platform CLI and GUI Tools With Tcl/Tk. Powerful, Event-Driven, Open-Source And Future-Proof Toolkit… From the Past?!
What if I told you there exists a language, or a whole toolkit that:
- Can be used to create cross-platform Console and GUI tools or apps
- Those GUI apps look native on Windows, Linux and MacOS
- Supports safe and efficient threading, non-blocking events and I/O
- Has a small footprint of about 100MB with most common packages installed
- Can produce very compact single-file apps for any supported platform
- Is capable of building robust cross-platform Web Apps
- Has existed and been in use by some of the largest corporations for over three decades
- Is free and BSD-licensed, so you can do whatever you want with it, or to it
Would you believe me?
Foreword
Documenting personal experiences on fascinating or useful topics is what I do. Real-time visualization, 3D simulation, data safety, energy efficiency, or even input devices, microcontrollers, and fitness — an endless stream of ideas for new studies and exploration is always on the ToDo list.
This particular topic turned up to be quite a bit more involved than I originally planned. But I promise: all information here is what I myself would've loved to have known before I started my Tcl/Tk toolkit learning journey.
I'm writing this long after my honeymoon phase with Tcl/Tk ended, and will try to be as objective and honest as possible. Both to you, and to myself. I have nothing to "sell" except my personal experience, hoping to better inform you and simplify the "onboarding" process if you ever decide to give Tcl/Tk a try.
Due to its command-centric nature, Tcl is a powerful, yet widely misunderstood language. I want to contribute to the conversation, aiming to clear up this persistent confusion with concise explanations and concrete examples. And a bit of flair, of course, to keep you entertained.
Please note: We’re skipping the "Programming 101" talk here with the assumption that you already have a baseline familiarity with general programming logic. If you know your way around an if statement and know what function is, you're probably ready to dive straight into Tcl-specific structures and syntax. Think of this article as both a "Tcl hands-up and a primer", in hopes to make you, too, discover and appreciate this almost 40-year old technology that quietly powers the world. And maybe convince you to try it for yourself, and spread the word.
As for the "About the Author" — if you're interested, please visit the "About" page.
Change of Course and a New Beginning
An overwhelming majority of my readers (a whopping 2 out of 3!) have keenly noticed that the latest string of posts didn't really fit the primary "CGI" nature of the blog. True, I mostly touched upon marketing (something I predominately deal with at work nowadays) and some down-to-life topics which held particular importance to me personally. Some might even go so far as to blame me of procrastinating rather than working on the short film.
That's... Actually pretty close to ground truth, as you will momentarily find out, and it's something I need to finally admit. However embarrassing it might be.
This is a long post that starts slow, takes a dark turn, raises serious questions, but ultimately changes gears and sets everything right. With some cool stuff and a look at the industry from the eyes of an amateur along the way, as usual.
So get yourself a glass of some sparkling beverage and a couple snacks, and let's roll.
How It All Began
In 2016 I started this blog as a means of documenting the everlasting journey into the world of computer graphics. Luckily, I didn't go unprepared: with a fair amount of experience in video production, editing, 2D VFX and compositing as well as basic understanding of the most important aspects of 3D, as well as a released mobile game project in the portfolio, I was armed with just enough tools and knowledge to challenge myself further.
That "further" somehow turned into an animated short film project I've been working on ever since.