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> a "modern" version of Tcl more suitable for programming in the large

Would lua fit that definition? Between game engines, redis, openresty (nginx w/ lua) and others I feel like it fits a similar need (adding code to existing applications).

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I've done a fair amount of programming in Lua in the past but it still feels different from Tcl. Back in 2010 I would probably compare Lua to (a better) JavaScript due to its prototype-based nature. JavaScript evolved in a different direction afterwards.

The language itself is very different, but Lua is a replacement for Tcl in the sense that it's a fairly simple and small language that can easily be embedded. i.e. it's about use cases rather than the language design.

I understand what you mean, but this is not the point I was trying to get across with my original comment. Maybe that's the reason why I haven't touched this subject. Although both languages can be easily embedded, the programming experience is still different, and there are still lots of "freestanding" systems in both languages, so the language design comparison still applies.

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