ISBN: 0122612051 Tcl/Tk For Real Programmers

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Tcl/Tk For Real Programmers

Academic Press Professional

ISBN 0-12-261205-1

Tcl/Tk For Real Programmers is the second book in Academic Press's Real Programmer series. This series is the flip side to the For Dummies books.

The premise for this series of books is that the reader knows how to program, and needs to get up to speed on a new technology as quickly as possible.

These books don't describe flowcharting, or what an if statement does, or what the difference is between disk memory and ram memory. You already know those things, and you don't need to waste time skimming those chapters.

Tcl/Tk for Real Programmers describes enough commands to get you started, and uses those commands to discuss techniques for using Tcl/Tk commands to get jobs done. The book covers topics like using an associative array for complex data, using the package and namespace commands to control large projects, creating new graphic widgets, writing extensions, using the HTML widget, and more.

The CD-ROM accompanying Tcl/Tk For Real Programmers includes several tutorials from the net to help you get up to speed quickly, the Tcl/Tk source distributions, Tcl/Tk binaries for windows and Macintosh, source code and some binaries for Tcl/Tk development tools, and several chapters describing Real World Tcl/Tk projects.

Table of Contents

  1. Why Tcl/Tk?
    A quick overview of what Tcl/Tk offers the developer.

  2. The Mechanics of Using the Tcl and Tk Interpreters
    The low level functions of how to run the interpreter, what the prompts are, etc.

  3. Introduction to the Tcl Language
    Describes the Tcl syntax, substitutions, variables, a subset of the core commands, etc.

  4. Tcl Code Examples
    Introduces several more commands with a simple POP client example and a series of examples of searching for data.

  5. Using Lists and Arrays
    Describes techniques for using the Tcl list commands and how the associative arrays can be used to represent complex data. A tree data structure is created as an example.

  6. Procedure Techniques
    Describes the Tcl procedure (subroutine) command, and the methods for defining default values for arguments, and optional arguments. Explains how Tcl procedures can be used for object-oriented style programming. The tree data structure is converted into a tree object.

  7. Namespaces and Packages
    How the namespace and package commands can be used to manage large projects. The tree object is converted into a package using namespaces. This chapter includes a step-by-step cookbook for creating a package.

  8. Introduction to Tk Graphics
    Quick overview of the widgets, and how to use wish.

  9. The Canvas Widget, Images and Events
    The canvas widget provides a drawing space. Many of its features are described here. A new GUI widget is created as an example.

  10. The text Widget and html_library
    The text widget is an editable text display widget that supports multiple fonts, colors, etc. The html display widget is a good example of what can be done with the text widget features.

  11. Tk Megawidgets Discusses what megawidgets are, what you should consider when building a megawidget toolkit, techniques for constructing megawidgets, and how to use the namespaces in widget callbacks.

  12. Writing a Tcl Extension
    Describes both the old style C API, and the 8.0 Tcl_Obj C API. Describes both functional and structural views of an extension.

  13. Extensions and Packages
    A brief discussion of several popular extensions including [incr Tcl], tclX, Sybtcl, Oratcl, and expect.

  14. Programming Tools
    Descriptions of several debuggers, lint-style code checkers, reformatters, packageing tools, etc.

  15. Tips and Techniques
    A set of tricks to make your code more maintainable, help you debug, avoid common errors, etc.

CD-ROM CONTENTS

The Library Journal Review (4/1/99)

Tcl/Tk (called tickleTK) is a very powerful programming language for all sorts of projects, from visual application development to web scripting to meshing together varieties of applications and utilities written in different languages in order to create a new application. The program competes very favorably with Visual Basic, Java, Perl, and UNIX shell languages. It is a great tool for rapid prototype development; runs on almost all hardware, with no code changes; and is much easier to learn than Perl, C/C++, or Java. Flynt's book is aimed at programmers, but it is an excellent introduction to learning the basics of Tcl/Tk. Recommended for large public libraries and most academic institutions.

Purchasing Tcl/Tk For Real Programmers

Tcl/Tk For Real Programmers should be available from your local Border's, Little Professor's, Waldenbooks, B-Daltons, Doubleday, etc. If they don't have the book in stock, they should be able to order it via their normal distribution channels.

Many Border's Bookstores and a few Barnes & Noble's Bookstores keep Tcl/Tk for Real Programmers in stock. If your local book dealer doesn't stock Tcl/Tk for Real Programmer, feel free to tell them that they should stock my book. :-)

You can also order Tcl/Tk For Real Programmers from Amazon Books, enjoy Amazon's low prices, and have the book shipped to your door by clicking the Buy button to the left.
Amazon is offering Tcl/Tk For Real Programmers at a 20 % discount

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