Grex Systems Conference

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Grex Systems Item 18: The Scripting Languages item
Entered by cross on Sat Sep 16 23:22:11 UTC 2006:

So called "scripting" languages are usually distinguished by their high level
constructs.  They may be as basic as a shell interpreter used to drive a
sequence of Unix commands, or complete object-oriented programming systems
with extensive libraries.  They are often used for prototyping systems and
building "glue" components, but some can also be used for implementing
large-scale production systems.  Discuss them here.

7 responses total.

#1 of 7 by remmers on Mon Sep 18 14:56:55 2006:

I'm not sure what the intended scope of this item is.  Does it include, 
say, PHP, JavaScript, and Perl?

#2 of 7 by gull on Mon Sep 18 18:53:39 2006:

I would say those are all scripting languages, yes.  In some ways it 
makes sense to at least lump PHP and Perl together in the same item, 
because PHP borrows heavily from Perl's syntax.

#3 of 7 by cross on Tue Sep 19 03:22:45 2006:

Good question.  I think it's up to the readership to decide; if the item is
too broad, create another.  If it's too narrow, allow it to wilt into
obscurity.

That said, I'd say any are valid.  I was thinking of more traditional
scripting tasks when I created this item, but that's my own failure of
imagination rather than any actual limitation.

#4 of 7 by dtk on Mon Jan 7 03:20:59 2013:

Do we define based on interpreted versus compiled/executed? Or do we 
define based on dynamic run-time loose variable instantiation? Or 
perhaps we define based on the use (systems programming/automation 
versus application programming). Do we base our distinction on the style
 of the resultant work? 

If I write a large code in Perl to perform automation with hooks for 
integration with other codes, but I write it in a strict structured 
manner, it blurs the lines. By the same token, a short code written in C
 or Java, which is just a wrapper for other existing codes, and which 
uses a sloppy all-in-main style is not automatically a script. 

No real answers as to the scope of the topic, just trollish questions. 


 -DTK

#5 of 7 by cross on Mon Jan 7 03:32:32 2013:

At least someone is asking the questions!

#6 of 7 by dtk on Mon Jan 7 05:24:19 2013:

For a while, i toyed with thedistinction of how rigorously the language 
makes you declare your variables/structs, but that distinction annoyed
me. I  am leaning toward the decision that there is no fundamental
difference  between a scripting language and a coding language, that it
is all a matter  of the author's perspective. That said, i will continue
to maintain that I  know nothing about programming, while grinding
increasingly complex scripts  to do my job for me and provide
information to thise who need it.  -DTK

#7 of 7 by cross on Wed Jan 9 00:01:22 2013:

I think you are probably right.  The distinction is blurring and continues
to do so.  The new hotness in nomenclature seems to be, "dynamic language."

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