> > > Mind you, I'm all in favor of Tcl, and I've been using it for > > > almost 10 years now... but the facts are that there are A LOT > > > of Java programmers out there compared to the number of Tcl > > > programmers, and that is a decision in picking what web > > > server to use from my experience. > > > > There have to be a lot of Java programmers out there, because > > it takes a few dozen of them to be as productive as one Tcl > > programmer. ;) > > I contend that this is because 90% of the Java programmers come fresh > out of college, with 2 CS classes under their belts (taught in Java) and > go "Rawr! I r programmer!!"... Whereas most of the Tcl programmers have > a background of being good programmers that needed to find a good > language for something particular, saw Tcl, and went "Wow, > this is great" :)
I would agree that has something to do with it. It is easy to see that Tcl does have a lower learning curve regardless, which is one of the reasons it was chosen for AOLServer in the first place. In any case though, I do support AOLServer integration with other languages, notably Java, PHP, Perl and Python. There is more to be gained in plurality than lost in focus. I think it is important that such an effort be done with a focus on general language interoperation. Tcl is very good at interoperating with just about anything, so it should be possible to have some common integration points. For example, I've recently done work on a new Perl<>Tcl/Tk bridge that has a very tight Tcl_Obj<>PerlSV object binding which makes interop fast and efficient (more so than the original Perl/Tk). That said, Jim and I have discussed this before, but I don't think that AOLServer really takes as much advantage of Tcl as it should, and this is one of the reasons that Win32 fell off the primary support bandwagon. The reliance on Tcl in the AOLServer core is already there. By tightening the binding with more use of Tcl systems I think you would make interop with other languages actually easier. Jeff Hobbs, The Tcl Guy http://www.ActiveState.com/, a division of Sophos -- AOLserver - http://www.aolserver.com/ To Remove yourself from this list, simply send an email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with the body of "SIGNOFF AOLSERVER" in the email message. You can leave the Subject: field of your email blank.
