On Oct 30, 1:25 pm, chewie54 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello, > > As an electronics engineer I use some very expensive EDA CAD tool > programs that are scriptable using Tcl. I was wondering why these > companies have choose to use Tcl instead of Python. Some of these > are: > > Mentor Graphics ModelTech VHDL and Verilog simulator > Synopsys Design Compiler and Primetime Static Timing Analyzer > Actel FPGA tools. > > Tcl seems to very popular in my business as the scripting language of > choice. > > I'm in the process of deciding to use Tcl or Python for a CAD tool > program that I have been working on. Most of the core of the > program, the database, will be done is C as an extension to either > Tcl or Python, but I intend to use Tk or wxPthon for the GUI. I do > need publishing quality outputs from drawings done on a graphics > device that are scaled to standard printer paper sizes. > > I would prefer to use Python but can't deny how popular Tcl is, as > mentioned above, so my question is why wasn't Python selected by > these companies as the choice of scripting languages for their > product? > > Are there any obvious advantages like: > > performance, > memory footprint, > better cross-platform support, > ease of use, > > Thanks in advance for your thoughts about this.
I'm an electrical engineer too, and have lamented the same lack of Python scripting for tools like the ModelTech VHDL simulator. I think the original choice had to do with with the ease of embedding TCL into applications written in C, and the use of TCL in university EE departments. I would rather die than try to write anything approaching a complete application in TCL. Other braver souls have actually done it, but I am sure they are masochists. About a year ago I discovered an interesting project that embedded Python in TCL (!). it's called TCLPython. I have tried this out with ModelSim 6.2, and it actually works! I have written a few Python scripts that drive a signal in a VHDL simulation. Here is a link: http://www.ellogon.org/petasis/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=43 Best regards, Vern Muhr -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
