Reworked summary

1 files changed, 37 insertions, 9 deletions

diff --git a/tcl.html.markdown b/tcl.html.markdown
index 5402ce04..44805b5c 100755
--- a/tcl.html.markdown
+++ b/tcl.html.markdown
@@ -13,15 +13,43 @@ programming language.  It can also be used as a portable C library, even in
 cases where no scripting capability is needed, as it provides data structures

 such as dynamic strings, lists, and hash tables.  The C library also provides

 portable functionality for loading dynamic libraries, string formatting and

-code conversion, filesystem operations, network operations, and more.

-

-Tcl is a pleasure to program in.  Its discipline of exposing all programmatic

-functionality as commands, including things like loops and mathematical

-operations that are usually baked into the syntax of other languages, allows it

-to fade into the background of whatever domain-specific functionality a project

-needs.  Its design of exposing all values as strings, while internally caching

-a structured representation, bridges the world of scripting and systems

-programming in the best way.  Even Lisp is more syntactically heavy than Tcl.

+code conversion, filesystem operations, network operations, and more.  

+Various features of Tcl stand out:

+

+* Convenient cross-platform networking API

+

+* Fully virtualized filesystem

+

+* Stackable I/O channels

+

+* Asynchronous to the core

+

+* Full coroutines

+

+* A threading model recognized as robust and easy to use

+

+

+If Lisp is a list processor, then Tcl is a string processor.  All values are

+strings.  A list is a string format.  A procedure definition is a string

+format.  To achieve performance, Tcl internally caches structured

+representations of these values.  The list commands, for example, operate on

+the internal cached representation, and Tcl takes care of updating the string

+representation if it is ever actually needed in the script.  The copy-on-write

+design of Tcl allows script authors can pass around large data values without

+actually incurring additional memory overhead.  Procedures are automatically

+byte-compiled unless they use the more dynamic commands such as "uplevel",

+"upvar", and "trace".

+

+Tcl is a pleasure to program in.  It will appeal to hacker types who find Lisp,

+Forth, or Smalltalk interesting, as well as to engineers and scientists who

+just want to get down to business with a tool that bends to their will.  Its

+discipline of exposing all programmatic functionality as commands, including

+things like loops and mathematical operations that are usually baked into the

+syntax of other languages, allows it to fade into the background of whatever

+domain-specific functionality a project needs. It's syntax, which is even

+lighter that that of Lisp, just gets out of the way.

+

+