Cuesta has selected Tcl as the initial script language supported by OpenPages because it has several advantages over competing technologies:

• It is more structured and English-like and doesn't require the expertise of a system administrator or C programmer. It is thus an easy next step for an HTML coder.
• It is an extensible language, well-known for its benefits as a Rapid Application Development environment.
• It is well known for its strength as "glue" code, and therefore extremely suitable as a platform from which to launch code written in Java or other languages.
• It has all the constructs of a full programming language including the ability to work with subroutines, conditional elements, variables and complex structures.
• It is much easier to maintain and update than code written in other languages.
• It enjoys wide industry support.

Because of the advantages of OpenPages and a scripting language like Tcl, we can offer our clients significant reductions in development cost and time by employing Web developers who may not necessarily have computer science backgrounds. At the same time, they can enjoy the technical benefits of software developed by more expensive programmers. According to Dr. John Ousterhout, designer of Tcl, "...many people have reported tenfold reductions in code size and development time when they switched from other toolkits to Tcl..." (Ousterhout, 1994).