ANN: TclKit 8.4b1 and Starkits
Jean-Claude Wippler
TclKit is a self-contained runtime which combines Tcl/Tk, Incrtcl,
MetaKit, TclVFS, and Zlib - it runs out of the box without installation.
You can use TclKit as interactive shell, as GUI shell, as command
interpreter for Tcl scripts, and as runtime for Starkits (formerly
called scripted documents).
The TclKit homepage is http://www.equi4.com/tclkit/ - with over a dozen
platform builds, including Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris.
All components of TclKit, as well as the (few) bits of coding of TclKit
itself, are BSD/MIT-type open source and available from the above page.
Starkits and Starpacks
======================
A Starkit is a single file packaging of Tcl scripts, platform specific
compiled code, and application data; designed to facilitate simple
deployment of cross platform applications. Starkits can be very small
and portable. The name comes from STandAlone Runtime.
A Starpack is a single (platform specific) executable file containing
both TclKit and a Starkit. They are useful when you want to deploy a
single executable for an application. Starpacks can be built ON any
platform supporting TclKit, FOR any platform supporting TclKit.
Starkits have undergone a lot of development since they were first
presented at the Tcl/Tk 2000 conference, and have been in 24x7
production use for over two years now. Many thousands of people are
running applications deployed as Starkits or Starpacks without even
realizing it.
The Starkit homepage is http://www.equi4.com/starkit/
Due to the many terrific contributions and enhancements (most of them in
the Tcl core by now) you can now consider deployment of applications
built upon Tcl/Tk to be "solved". It has been a long journey to get to
this point and, given the recent sudden increase of pace, it is likely
that some wrinkles will still need to be ironed out. But Starkits are
very close to becoming a 100% hassle-free deployment technology. Hurray
for the giants, it's nice to stand on their shoulders :)
-jcw
PS. More to be presented in "Beyond TclKit: Deployment Options for the
Tcl Masses", by Steve Landers, in the upcoming Tcl/Tk 2002 conference.