From: claird at Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (Cameron Laird)
Date: 6 Apr 1999 12:19:03 -0500
Subject: Understanding Tk
References: <7eabbe$pbu$1@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>
Message-ID: <7edfm7$19u$1@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>
Content-Length: 1745
X-UID: 669                                                  

In article <7eabbe$pbu$1 at Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>, I exhorted:
>Are you in the position of explaining Tk(inter) to others, or
>simply want to understand it better for yourself?  The PerlTk
			.
		[complicated URL;
		my one-sentence
		synopsis of Tk;
		and so on]
			.
			.
A gentle correspondent pointed out that my language
in this article was indistinguishable from that of
mass marketers.  That was *not* my aim.  Here's what
I have to say:
1.  comp.lang.perl.tk has recently discussed
    Nancy Walsh's *Learning Perl/Tk* book.
    This thread interests me.  I think the
    testimony of some of its readers bears
    weight for subjects well beyond PerlTk.
    First, much of what's said about PerlTk
    applies immediately to Tk, Tkinter,
    SchemeTk, ...  Beyond that, several of
    the remarks on style, tone, and approach
    is pertinent to anyone aiming to teach
    any scripting language or extension.
    Therefore, I commend this thread to the
    attention of everyone writing references
    or documents or tutorials.

    The URL I gave looks ugly because I
    haven't yet figured out a better one.
    DejaNews made yet another cursed change
    in its syntax, and it's now painful to
    direct readers to an appropriate view
    of a thread.
2.  Lots of Tk is common to any WIMP system
    or toolkit ("design interface carefully
    ... mouse ... blah-blah ...").  People
    *really* start to enjoy and benefit from
    Tk (PerlTk, Tkinter, ...), though, when
    they "get" a few key ideas.  It's impor-
    tant to think deeply about what makes Tk
    special.  I hope book authors do this.
-- 

Cameron Laird           http://starbase.neosoft.com/~claird/home.html
claird at NeoSoft.com      +1 281 996 8546 FAX




