Re: Why do we need "eval"? (Expect question)

In article <vc0f9n$ml8n$1@dont-email.me>, Rich  <rich@example.invalid> wrote:

Kenny McCormack <gazelle@shell.xmission.com> wrote:

ISTM that this {*} thing is a relatively recent addition to the langauge,

>
Not really, it was added in 8.5, which was released Feb 12, 2016 [1]. 
Although 2016 *is* relatively recent in regards to many expect scripts.

Well, yes, really, from the perspective of Expect.

That was my point - that Expect hasn't really changed much since the late
90s, and most of the active development was done then.  The scripts that I
have in mind - such as "unbuffer" - date back to that era.

since Expect has been around for a long time, and most of the scripts that
do this sort of thing were written long ago.

>
Before 8.5, 'eval' was the way to perform the "splicing" that {*}
provides.

Right.  OK.

I'm glad I learned about {*}.

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