Goodbye TCL

[Donal K. Fellows]

Cameron Laird wrote:
> 'Different way to say this:  "database", in this sense, is a dirty
> subject, in that it's far more tied to grungy details of specific
> implementations than the masses generally realize, or than either
> Python or Tcl, both of which prize purity in their own ways,
> generally support. A general database abstraction is about as
> rarefied as a general GUI abstraction.

I had a quick look into general DB APIs in the past, and the response I
got from the DB community at the time was "but this doesn't support this
*vital* feature only implemented in one DB that 0.01% of users really
need and therefore we could never ever use your proposal for a standard
API".  It's kind of discouraging.

FWIW, I think some mostly-common subset of functionality is possible (if
we assume SQL underneath; without that, you can't get anywhere) and it
would be enough to get most of the low-end and casual users total
satisfaction. And maybe this would encourage alteration in the high-end
interfaces to be more like each other too.

Donal.