''Tcl's syntax is small enough to fit in the working memory of a typical
human.'' -- [Cameron Laird]



** Summary **

The [Dodekalogue%|%syntax of a Tcl script] is minimal and elegant.  A basic Tcl
interpreter can be extended by adding additional [procedure%|%procedures] to
it.  The body of a procedure created using `[proc]` is also a script, and is
processed as an additional [level] of [eval%|%evaluation].  A procedure might
also use one or more of its arguments to [Many ways to eval%|%create and
evaluate a script].  Other procedures such as `[subst]` perform a subset of the
steps performed to fully evaluate a script.  Procedures such as `[exec]`,
`[expr]`, `[glob]`, and `[regexp]` implement their own [little
language%|%little languages] that are independent of the main interpreter.
`[expr]` is particularly interesting because it is also features evaluation of
arbitrary Tcl scripts, making it a sort of wrapper over standard Tcl.

One of the distinguishing features of Tcl among string-based languages is that
although it features substitutions, the substituted values are not themselves
scanned for additional substitutions.  This gives Tcl a distincly different
flavour than [Unix shells] or [TeX].

The syntax of a [List%|%list] is nearly the same as that of a script, except
that it omits the dynamic features of substitution and [command] evaluation.
I.e. a [command] is a list which may contain substitutions in the words.


** See Also **

   [#]:   

   [{*}]:   Expansion operator:  Each item in the following list becomes an additionl word in the current command.

   [http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/msg/61d39c42794c4955%|%"args" == ARGH! Are they _really_ good for anything?], [Brent Welch], [comp.lang.tcl], 1994-02-01:   

   [BNF for Tcl]:   

   [A parser's monolog]:   A basic tutorial explaining how Tcl reads and interprets a command.
   
   [An indentation syntax for Tcl]:   

   [Brace your expr-essions]:   

   [comment]:   The various ways of commenting a script.

   [Dodekalogue%|%Rules of Tcl]:   The "official" rules.

   [Glossary for Tcl syntax]:   

   [Hunt for Tcl Extensional Equivalents]:   

   [Is there a a decent tcl script for finding matching brackets]?:   

   [Syntax parsing in Tcl]:   

   [substitution]:   

   [syntax]:   

   [Static syntax analysis]:   

   [Tcl Quoting]:   

   [Why is Tcl syntax so weird]:   In a nutshell:  Because it's new to you :)


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