Who should attend: Programmers and managers using Tcl/Tk to build real-world applications. You should have a working knowledge of Tcl/Tk.

What you will learn: How non-trivial Tcl/Tk programs are put together; system architectures and coding techniques that make Tcl/Tk applications easier to develop and maintain.

Tcl/Tk programming is deceptively simple. You can put together a "Hello, World!" program with just a few lines of code. But when you start to develop serious applications that require a few thousand lines of code, things can get out of hand.

This tutorial draws upon the lessons learned from writing thousands of lines of Tcl/Tk code. It describes design paradigms and coding techniques that make it easier to build Tcl/Tk applications. Topics include:

- How to handle data structures in Tcl

- How to package Tcl/Tk code into reusable libraries

- How to communicate with other processes

- How to implement client/server architectures

- How to use "safe" interpreters

- How to deliver Tcl/Tk applications that are easy to configure and install

More than anything else, you will learn techniques that will help make your Tcl/Tk projects a success.

Michael McLennan has been a Tcl/Tk enthusiast since 1992 and has taught more than 40 courses on Tcl/Tk. He is co-author of Effective Tcl/Tk Programming and Tcl/Tk Tools. He also developed [incr Tcl], an object-oriented extension of Tcl/Tk, and many other extensions and applications, including the cover application for John Ousterhout's book, Tcl and the Tk Toolkit. He is currently a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Bell Labs Innovations for Lucent Technologies, Inc.

Mark Harrison heard John Ousterhout speak at the Winter 1991 USENIX Conference and wrote his first Tk program during the next speaker's presentation. He is co-author of EffectiveTcl/Tk Programming and editor of Tcl/Tk Tools. His first book, The Usenet Handbook, was selected by UNIX Review as one of the best books of 1995. He is currently a senior architect for intelligent network systems at DSC Communications Corporation. When pressed, he modestly admits to being the world's most enthusiastic Tcl programmer.

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