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Encyclopedia > Scripting programming language

Scripting programming languages (commonly called scripting languages or script languages) are computer programming languages designed for "scripting" the operation of a computer. Early script languages were often called batch languages or job control languages. A computer is a device or machine for making calculations or controlling operations that are expressible in numerical or logical terms. ... A programming language or computer language is a standardized communication technique for expressing instructions to a computer. ...


In computer applications, a script, roughly speaking, is a computer program that automates the sort of task that a user might otherwise do interactively at the keyboard. A shell script often consists largely of the sort of commands that might be typed at a command prompt, or in a word processing program a user might write a script that would combine a sequence of editing tasks that the user expects to perform repeatedly. Many such languages are quite sophisticated, and have been used to write elaborate programs, which are often still called scripts even if they go well beyond automating simple sequences of user tasks. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A shell script is a script written for the shell, or command interpreter, of an operating system. ... Rxvt is a VT102 terminal emulator A command line interface or CLI is a method of interacting with a computer by giving it lines of textual commands (that is, a sequence of characters) either from keyboard input or from a script. ...

Contents


Description

Computer languages are created for varying purposes and tasks — different kinds and styles of programming. One common programming task is known as scripting, or connecting diverse pre-existing components to accomplish a new related task. Those languages which are suited to scripting are typically called scripting languages. Many languages for this purpose have common properties: they favor rapid development over efficiency of execution; they are often implemented with interpreters rather than compilers; and they are strong at communication with program components written in other languages. A computer language is a language used by, or in association with, computers. ... A diagram of the operation of an ideal compiler. ...


Many scripting languages emerged as tools for executing one-off tasks, particularly in system administration. One way of looking at scripts is as "glue" that puts several components together; thus they are widely used for creating graphical user interfaces. Scripts are typically stored only in their plain text form (as ASCII) and interpreted, or (as with Perl) compiled each time they are invoked. A system administrator is a person responsible for running, or running some aspect of, a computer system. ... A graphical user interface (or GUI, sometimes pronounced gooey) is a method of interacting with a computer through a metaphor of direct manipulation of graphical images and widgets in addition to text. ... There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ... An interpreter is a computer program that executes other programs. ... Perl, also Practical Extraction and Report Language (a backronym, see below), is an interpreted procedural programming language designed by Larry Wall. ... A compiled language is a programming language whose implementations are typically compilers (translators which generate machine code from source code), and not interpreters (step-by-step executors of source code, where no translation takes place). ...


Some scripting languages are designed for a specific domain, but often it is possible to write more general programs in that language. In many large-scale projects, a scripting language and a lower level programming language are used together, each lending its particular strengths to solve specific problems. Scripting languages are often designed for interactive use, having many commands that can execute individually, and often have very high level operations (for example, in the classic UNIX shell (sh), most operations are programs themselves). High-level programming language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A Unix shell, also called the command line, provides the traditional user interface for the Unix operating system. ...


Such high level commands simplify the process of writing code. Programming features such as automatic memory management and bounds checking can be taken for granted. In a 'lower level' or nonscripting language, managing memory and variables and creating data structures tends to consume more programmer effort and lines of code to complete a given task. In some situations this is well worth it for the resulting fine-grained control. The scripter typically has less flexibility to optimize a program for speed or to conserve memory. In computing, garbage collection (also known as GC) is a form of automatic memory management. ... In computer programming, bounds checking is the name given to any method of detecting whether or not an index given lies within the limits of an array. ...


For the reasons noted above, it is usually faster to program in a scripting language, and script files are typically much smaller than, say, equivalent C program files. The flip side can be a performance penalty: scripting languages, often interpreted, may be significantly slower to execute and may consume more memory when running. In many relevant cases, however, e.g. with small scripts of some tens of lines, the write-time advantage far outweighs the run-time disadvantage. Also, this argument gets stronger with rising programmer salaries and falling hardware costs.


However, the boundary between scripting languages and regular programming languages tends to be vague, and is blurring ever more with the emergence of new languages and integrations in this fast-changing area. In some scripting languages, an experienced programmer can accomplish a good deal of optimization if they choose. And in general, it is possible to write a script in any language (including C or assembly language). In most modern systems, the latter case is very seldom recommendable, since one or more suitable script languages is usually available. The C Programming Language, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, the original edition that served for many years as an informal specification of the language The C programming language is a standardized imperative computer programming language developed in the early 1970s by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie for use on the... Assembly language or simply assembly is a human-readable notation for the machine language that a specific computer architecture uses. ...


Types of scripting languages

Application-specific languages

Many large application programs include an idiomatic scripting language tailored to the needs of the application user. Likewise, many computer game systems use a custom scripting language to express the programmed actions of non-player characters and the game environment. Languages of this sort are designed for a single application and, while they may superficially resemble a specific general-purpose language (e.g. QuakeC, modeled after C) they have custom features which distinguish them. A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... A non-player character or non-playable character is a fictional character in a role-playing game whose role is generally created and performed by the gamemaster. ...

Action Code Script (ACS) is a scripting language used in HeXen and modern Doom ports. ... AutoIt is a freeware Windows automation language. ... ActionScript is an ECMAScript-based programming language used for controlling Macromedia Flash movies and applications. ... GameMonkey Script is a small, cross-platform scripting language designed, as its name suggests, for embedding into games. ... IRC scripts are a way of shortening commands and responding automatically to certain events while connected to IRC. There are different scripts and scripting languages for different types of IRC clients: ircII, BitchX, mIRC, Visual IRC, Bersirc, and others have their own scripting languages, many of which share common features... The name Lingo has been used by several unrelated programming languages. ... QuakeC is a scripting language developed in 1996 by John Carmack of id Software to program parts of the computer game Quake. ... UnrealScript is the scripting language of the Unreal engine and is used for authoring game code and gameplay events. ... ZZT-oop is an early in-game scripting language. ... Emacs Lisp is a dialect of the Lisp programming language used by the GNU Emacs and XEmacs text editors (which we will collectively refer to as Emacs in this article. ... AutoLISP is a programming language, a dialect of Lisp included with the CAD program AutoCAD to allow the user to add functionality to the software. ...

Text processing languages

The processing of text-based records is one of the oldest uses of scripting languages. Many, such as Unix's awk and, later, Perl, were originally designed to aid system administrators in automating tasks that involved Unix text-based configuration and log files. Perl is a special case -- originally intended as a report-generation language (hence its name, Practical Extraction and Reporting Language) it has grown into a full-fledged applications language in its own right. Unix or UNIX is a computer operating system originally developed in the 1960s and 1970s by a group of AT&T Bell Labs employees including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and Douglas McIlroy. ... The term system administrator (abbreviation: sysadmin) designates a job position of engineers involved in computer systems. ...

AWK is a general purpose computer language that is designed for processing text based data, either in files or data streams. ... Perl, also Practical Extraction and Report Language (a backronym, see below), is an interpreted procedural programming language designed by Larry Wall. ... The title of this article is incorrect because of technical limitations. ... ...

Job control languages and shells

Main article: Shell script A shell script is a script written for the shell, or command interpreter, of an operating system. ...


Another class of scripting languages has grown out of the automation of job control -- starting and controlling the behavior of system programs. Many of these languages' interpreters double as command-line interfaces, such as the Unix shell or the MS-DOS COMMAND.COM. Others, such as AppleScript, add scripting capability to computing environments lacking a command-line interface. A command line interface or CLI is a method of interacting with a computer by giving it lines of textual commands (that is, a sequence of characters) either from keyboard input or from a script. ...

AppleScript is a scripting language devised by Apple Computer, and built into Mac OS. More generally, AppleScript is the word used to designate the Mac OS scripting interface, which is meant to operate in parallel with the graphical user interface. ... AREXX is the Amiga version of scripting language REXX by IBM. It has been not licensed from IBM, but it is a version written by Bill Hawes who ported Rexx to the Amiga, with many special Amiga features. ... This article is about the UNIX shell named Bash. ... The C shell (csh) is a Unix shell developed by Bill Joy for the BSD Unix system. ... Job Control Language (JCL) is a scripting language used on IBM mainframe operating systems to instruct the Job Entry Subsystem (that is, JES2 or JES3) on how to run a batch program or start a subsystem. ... The Korn shell (ksh) is a Unix shell which was developed by David Korn (AT&T Bell Laboratories) in the mid 1980s. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... REXX (Restructured Extended Executor) is a programming language which was developed at IBM, and several implementations are available under open source licenses. ... A Unix shell, also called the command line, provides the traditional user interface for the Unix operating system. ...

General-purpose dynamic languages

Some languages, such as Perl, have begun as scripting languages but developed into programming languages suitable for broader purposes. Other similar languages -- frequently interpreted, memory-managed, dynamic -- have been described as "scripting languages" for these similarities, even if they are more commonly used for applications programming.

In computing, ColdFusion is a tag-based, middleware programming language used chiefly for writing web-based applications. ... The Dylan programming language is functional, object-oriented, reflective, dynamic. ... Jython is an implementation of the Python programming language written in Java. ... Perl, also Practical Extraction and Report Language (a backronym, see below), is an interpreted procedural programming language designed by Larry Wall. ... PHP logo PHP is a popular open-source, reflective programming language used mainly for developing server-side applications and dynamic web content, and more recently, other software. ... Pike is a general-purpose, high-level, dynamic programming language, with a syntax similar to that of C. Unlike many other dynamic languages, pike is statically typed, and requires explicit type definitions. ... Python is an interpreted, interactive programming language created by Guido van Rossum in 1990. ... Ruby is a reflective, object-oriented programming language. ... The Knights of the Lambda Calculus is a semi-mythical organization of wizardly LISP and Scheme hackers. ... Sleep is a functional programming language inspired by Perl and Objective-C. The only known implementation of the language is written in Java and is intended for embedding into existing Java applications to provide scripting services. ...

Extension/embeddable languages

A small number of languages have been designed for the purpose of replacing application-specific scripting languages, by being embeddable in application programs. The application programmer (working in C or another systems language) includes "hooks" where the scripting language can control the application. These languages serve the same purpose as application-specific extension languages, but with the advantage of allowing some transfer of skills from application to application.

JavaScript began as and primarily still is a language for scripting inside of web browsers, however, the standardization of the language as ECMAScript has made it popular as a general purpose embeddable language. ECMAScript is a scripting programming language, standardized by Ecma International in ECMA-262 specification. ... JavaScript - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... JScript is Microsofts implementation of ECMAScript. ... Guile is the GNU Projects implementation of the Scheme programming language. ... The Lua (pronouced LOO-ah, or in IPA) programming language is a lightweight, reflective, imperative and procedural language, designed as a scripting language with extensible semantics as a primary goal. ... Sleep is a functional programming language inspired by Perl and Objective-C. The only known implementation of the language is written in Java and is intended for embedding into existing Java applications to provide scripting services. ... Tcl (originally from Tool Command Language, but nonetheless conventionally rendered as Tcl rather than TCL; and pronounced like tickle) is a scripting language created by John Ousterhout that is generally thought to be easy to learn, but powerful in the right hands. ... A web browser is a software application that enables a user to display and interact with HTML documents hosted by web servers or held in a file system. ... ECMAScript is a scripting programming language, standardized by Ecma International in ECMA-262 specification. ...


Expect is one of the first extensions of Tcl, and was widely used for controling terminal-driven tools such telnet, ssh, and ftp. Expect is a UNIX automation and testing tool, written by Don Libes, for interactive applications such as telnet, ftp, passwd, fsck, rlogin, tip, ssh, and others. ... Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area network LAN connections. ... In computing, Secure shell, or SSH, is both a computer program and an associated network protocol designed for logging into and executing commands on a remote computer. ... This page is about the File Transfer Protocol, a computer protocol. ...


Uncategorized

BeanShell is a Java scripting language, invented by Pat Niemeyer. ... CobolScript is a COBOL based scripting language. ... HyperTalk is a high-level programming language created in 1987 by Dan Winkler and used in conjunction with Apple Computers HyperCard hypermedia program by Bill Atkinson. ... E is an object-oriented programming language for secure distributed computing, created by Mark S. Miller and others at Electric Communities in 1997. ... Escapade, or ESP for short, is a server-side scripting language that is designed to provide an easy interface to database contents. ... Euphoria is an interpreted programming language conceived and created by Robert Craig of Rapid Deployment Software. ... F-Script is an object-oriented scripting programming language developed by Philippe Mougin at TechMetrix Research in France. ... In slang and informal language, Groovy refers to a fashionable or desirable quality, without necessarily specifying one. ... The ICI Programming Language is a general purpose interpreted, computer programming language. ... The KiXtart free-format scripting language has rich built-in functionality for easy scripting. ... mIRC script is the scripting language included with mIRC, an IRC client. ... Miva or MivaScript is a proprietary computer scripting language mainly used for internet applications such as e-commerce. ... The Mondrian programming language is a scripting language developed by Utrecht University for use with Internet applications. ... NWScript is the scripting language for Neverwinter Nights, developed by BioWare and based on the C programming language. ... The Object REXX programming language is an object-oriented scripting language based on the REXX language, produced by IBM, originally for the OS/2 line of operating systems. ... The Pliant programming language, created by Hubert Tonneau, is based on a dynamic compiler, which makes it act like it is interpreted. ... REBOL, the Relative Expression Based Object Language (pronounced [rebl]), is labeled an internet messaging language by its makers. ... ScriptBasic is a scripting language variant of BASIC. The source of the compiler is available as a C program under the LGPL license. ... Scriptol is an object oriented programming language which makes use of XML as an internal data structure. ... The Short Transitional Utility Language also known as Shorthand, was created and implemented by Sam Moses and Andrei Remenchuck as a simpler means of creating dynamic web applications. ... Simkin is a scripting language that can be embedded in Java or C++ applications. ... VBScript (short form of Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition) is a subset of Visual Basic used in Active Server Pages and in Windows Scripting Host as a general-purpose scripting language. ... Visual Dialogscript is a scripting language for Microsoft Windows that can access the Windows API. It was originally developed by Julian Moss, but is now owned by Commercial-Research, Ltd. ...

See also

  • Domain-specific programming language

A domain-specific language (DSL) is a programming language designed to be useful for a specific set of tasks, in contrast to general-purpose programming languages. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Scripting language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1086 words)
Scripting languages (commonly called scripting programming languages or script languages) are computer programming languages initially designed for "scripting" the operations of a computer.
Many languages for this purpose have common properties: they favor rapid development over efficiency of execution; they are often implemented with interpreters rather than compilers; and they are strong at communication with program components written in other languages.
Scripting languages are often designed for interactive use, having many commands that can execute individually, and often have very high level operations (for example, in the classic UNIX shell (sh), most operations are programs themselves).
  More results at FactBites »


 

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