Scripting lanuages for laboratory tests

[Etta Makwetta]

To whom it may concern

I am tring to decide on which scripting language to use in one of our
laborities during testing procedures, and I don't really know what the real
advantages and disadvantages are.  I have made the following list, and would
like to know if anybody knows of any obvoius other advantages/disadvantages
that Python has compared to Tcl.  Any other comments about Ruby, Perl etc.
are also welcome.

Tcl:

Pros: Easy to learn, Easy for simple applications, Easy GUI tool (tk),
Portable, Easy Embeddability (from c-functions), Easy Extension (to
c-functions), Free, (Can be object oriented with extension [incr Tcl]

Cons: Less exception handling, No overflow checking, Less support for
complicated data structures, Not support calling an arbitrary dll,

Python:

Pros: Object oriented, Modular (name scope etc), Portable, Overflow
checking, Exception handling, Easy Embeddability (from c-functions), Easy
Extension (to c-functions), Support for complicated data structures,
Copyrighted but free

Cons: GUI slightly more complicated than Tcl, More to learn, Not support
calling an arbitrary dll

Neither Tcl nor Python supports calling an arbitrary dll.  Tcl supports
loading of dll's, however they must contain an initialisation procedure that
translates the functions  to Tcl commands. If this is not an option, e.g. if
you want to use a Win32 dll, a wrapper must be written for each dll. Similar
conditions apply to Python. Otherwise there are no significant differences.
Which to choose is basically a matter of taste.

Kind Regards

Etta Makwetta