An ancient programming language has been updated after 27 years. What's new in Tcl
A few days ago there was
a dynamic programming language. It is distributed along with the cross-platform library of basic Tk GUI elements. The release marks the first major update since 1997 (I've been there, Gandalf) and includes many improvements that add a modern experience for developers. Let's see what's new there!
A little history and the meaning of Tcl/Tk
The history of Tcl/Tk has begun
when John Ousterhout, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, created Tcl (Tool Command Language) as a scripting language for easily creating applications. In 1992, he expanded it with the Tk library, which allows the creation of graphical user interfaces. It is important to note that Tcl/Tk appeared long before the advent of modern operating systems such as Linux, FreeBSD and Windows 3.0. This toolkit has remained popular among developers over the years due to its simplicity and efficiency.
A key feature of Tcl is its interpretability. Unlike many other scripting languages of the time, Tcl was designed with a focus on integration with other systems and programs. This makes it an ideal tool for creating complex systems that require flexibility and ease of programming. Tk, in turn, provides the ability to create cross-platform graphical interfaces, which was especially important in an era when software development was carried out for different operating systems.
Among other scripting languages of that time, it is worth noting Lua, which appeared in 1993. Although Lua also provided tools for creating programs, it became more popular in game development, while Tcl/Tk found its place in creating tools for programming and managing processes on servers and GUI systems. Modern libraries for creating GUIs, such as GTK and Qt, although they appeared later (in 1998 and 1995, respectively), are also cross-platform oriented, but have a more complex structure compared to Tcl/Tk.
In 2002, Ousterhout co-founded Electric Cloud, a company that developed tools for automating programming processes. The company was acquired by CloudBees in 2019, but Ousterhout's contributions to the development of Tcl/Tk-based software remain invaluable.
Since 2000, Tcl/Tk has been developed by the Tcl Core Team (TCT). This community-driven approach makes the project open and accessible to anyone who wants to contribute. Tcl/Tk is distributed under a BSD-like license, allowing it to be used in both open source and commercial projects.
What's new in version 9.0
Main feature Tcl/Tk 9.0 updates is the introduction of 64-bit architecture, which significantly expands the capabilities of working with data. Now the toolkit supports working with arrays of strings and lists, without limiting their length. This is especially useful for applications that process large amounts of data, such as scientific programs or server applications. It is important that many programs written for version 8.0 will work without changes in the new version, which makes the transition to the updated toolkit easier.
In addition, Unicode support has been added, which allows Tcl/Tk to work correctly with text in all languages of the world. Unicode has become the primary character encoding standard, making this update highly relevant for developers working with international applications. In version 9.0, Tcl supports full work with Unicode, which means that programs can process text in any encoding. This is especially important for projects aimed at the global market.
Direct access to zip archives is another important innovation. Now Tcl/Tk programs can work with archived files as if they were regular directories. This makes it much easier to handle archives such as .zip, .jar and .tar. Especially in applications that require working with large amounts of data stored in a compressed format. This solution also speeds up program execution, since files no longer need to be unzipped to process them. More information about this can be found on the official page Tcl/Tk 9.0 via link.
Technical improvements and performance optimization
In addition to the above-mentioned innovations, Tcl/Tk 9.0 includes support for Epoll (on Linux) and Kqueue (on FreeBSD and macOS) technologies. These interfaces are used to monitor the status of a large number of file descriptors. In high-load systems, such as servers or network applications, using Epoll and Kqueue can significantly improve performance by handling I/O events more efficiently. This is especially important for modern applications that require large numbers of connections or real-time data transfers. More information about using Epoll can be found in the documentation.
Tk has also received a number of important improvements. One of the key ones is support for HiDPI displays, which allows interface elements to scale correctly on devices with high screen resolutions, such as modern laptops and monitors. This innovation makes Tcl/Tk more suitable for developing modern applications that need to look sharp and correct on a variety of devices. Support for multi-touch gestures has also been added, which expands the functionality of applications on devices with touch screens.
Additionally, Tcl/Tk 9.0 supports partial work with vector graphics, including the SVG format, which is becoming increasingly popular due to its flexibility and scalability without loss of quality. This gives developers more options to create high-quality GUIs. More detailed information can be found in the documentation.
What else?
Tcl/Tk remains an important tool for GUI software development even 35 years after its creation. The update to version 9.0 not only maintains the core principles of simplicity and efficiency, but also adds modern features that make it relevant in today's world. Support for 64-bit data, Unicode and improved performance on high-resolution displays make Tcl/Tk a competitive tool, especially in the field of cross-platform development. The project continues to actively develop thanks to the efforts of the community, which ensures its long-term support and relevance.
