BOOK Effective Tcl - Writing Better Programs in Tcl and Tk

Author: Mark Harrison and Michael McLennan

WWW book information: http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0201634740

WWW examples: http://www.awl.com/cseng/titles/0-201-63474-0/efftcl-ex.tar.Z

WWW examples: http://sf.net/projects/efftcl/

Practical information on how to exploit the full potential of Tcl/Tk.

Chapters include:

1. Building Tcl/Tk applications (designing, prototyping, testing, packaging)
2. Packing, Gridding, and Placing Windows
3. Handling Events
4. Using the Canvas Widget (implements scrollable form, progress gauge, HSB color editor, tabbed notebook widget, calendar, and simple drawing package)
5. Using the Text Widget (simple text editor, read-only text display, appointment editor, hierarchical browser)
6. Top-level Windows (setting widget classes, communicating with the window manager, simple dialogs, modal dialogs, controlling access to dialogs, unmanaged windows - like balloon help)
7. Interacting with Other Programs (pipelines, building commands, collecting output, driving other programs, working around buffering, bidirectional pipes, client/server, socket programming, and a case study of the electric secretary))
8. Delivering Tcl/Tk Applications (adding polish through resources, handling errors, and using animated placards, creating libraries, creating desktop application distributions, creating web-based applications)
9. Developing Cross-platform Applications (user interface, file system, program invocation issues)
10. Getting Started with Tcl/Tk (installing on Windows, Unix, and Macintosh)

This is a great second book for someone learning Tcl and Tk. It covers many of the topics that someone wanting to develop excellent skills as a Tcl programmer will want to learn.

Or maybe even first; in comp.lang.tcl, SH writes, "Effective Tcl/Tk is an outstanding book, if you're looking into the Tk portion more. I'm a newbie myself, and still reading the book. It's very clear, full of tips & tricks for newbies, and surprisingly concise."

Well, the problem with it being a first book is that it really doesn't try to teach a novice how to program in tcl.

JM in my opinion, this is an excellent book, very well explained.

It is fully focused in the creation of better User Interfaces, if you are already familiar with Tcl and want to develop powerful and impressive user interfaces, then, this is the book.

Just a thought, this book is 8 years old, why not make it available online?

LV I've always wondered if there were contractual obligations which prevented the typical author from doing this, at least in cases where they didn't appear to be planning subsequent revisions.

CLN - Surely contracts vary. As I recall (I haven't looked at mine in a while), after a certain time, copyright of my book reverts to me so I could put it online if I chose (when that time came).