Speaking from the point of view of a recent convert from the Apache/PHP world, one thing that will really lower the bar for people like me is a document (or article) along the lines of "AOLServer and Tcl for Apache/PHP users." From the end user stand point it may be good to have packaged versions of AOLServer with snazzy front-ends for configuration and maintenance/status of the server. I'm not a terrific write, but I think I could maybe crank out something to assist PHP users in getting acquainted with AOLServer and Tcl. Tcl along with AOLServer's API is just as powerful and extensible as PHP is. In fact it offers a lot of things that PHP simply doesn't (pooled DB connections, robust control over the use of the HTTP protocol: responses codes, headers, mime types, etc.).
I think the only thing I'm still hung up on is arrays. In PHP it was ultra-easy to handle database rows using associative arrays,, and handling large numbers of rows in multi-dimensional arrays. I don't really know how to emulate that in Tcl, without setting up a separate API to handle it. Anyone have some tips on that? - Gabriel On Thursday, November 7, 2002, at 06:13 PM, Scott Goodwin wrote:
Good question. In about six months I expect AOLserver and all of the modules to be fully tested, documented and clean. At that point, it will be hard to argue with using AOLserver for any kind of IT project from a technical or maintenance standpoint. It is the other arguments we will have to overcome, such as, "Tcl? I thought that was obsolete" and "Isn't everything going Java and J2EE?" On the popularization front I want to have a self-installing distribution of AOLserver that will lower the bar to getting a copy of AOLserver running with a few simple, live applications. We make it easy for newcomers to run the server and see what it can do without having to wade through discussion groups and docs trying to figure out how to get something running themselves. I also plan to write a series of articles for magazines, update my website, and run naked through the streets if necessary. /s.
