Using Tcl to Rapidly Develop a Scalable Engine for Processing Dynamic Application Logic

At Healtheon, we used Tcl to rapidly develop a scalable, high performance rule engine for processing dynamic application logic. The nature of our application requirements, plus the challenge of delivering robust software in a timely manner made Tcl an optimal overall choice in our deployment. We were able to improve rule processing performance by careful language construction and support for concurrent execution. We developed a mechanism for implementing data-driven language extensions, called rule concepts, which allowed us to present a customized language for each client, and encouraged rule reusability. Our experience with using Tcl in our application system was also representative of software engineering choices that small companies often make in pursuit of rapidly developing a well-balanced system solution.