When to use the Tcl Tk and Java packages.pdfVIP

When to use the Tcl/Tk and Java packages? Duncan Temple Lang December 13, 2005 R now has packages that provide an interface to each of Tck/Tk and Java. With the existence of these two packages, each programmer has to decide which to use for a particular problem. In this document, we discuss some of the issues and hopefully provide some aid to deciding which toolkit to use for different types of projects. A thing to keep in the back of one’s mind when reading this is Einstein’s remark a simple as possible, but no simpler. Basically, while a simple approach to programming is desirable, if that approach prohibits or makes exces- sively difficult certain tasks, the simplicity is too simple. 1 General First some general remarks. Tcl/Tk is a scripting language while Java is a programming language. Omegahat and other systems (e.g. the BeanShell, etc.) provide interactive access to Java’s classes. One implication of this difference between the languages is that Tcl/Tk is good for writing short, simple applets that are unlikely to be modified or enhanced in the future. In other words, “programs” written in Tcl/Tk are more “write-once” code. In many respects, this is like Perl - a very rapid development tool for programming specific tasks, but providing little or no support for development of large and incrementally developed applications. Tcl/Tk provides very sensible and commonly used default values which leads to an efficiency in writing code. Java provides much greater capabilities than the tools/“classes” in Tcl and Tk but at the expense of having to specify what one means. Additionally, the enhanced capabilities provided by the Java classes make it appear more complex than other less rich toolkits. For the novice, such comple