Scripting language : Introduction and Overview

Understanding Scripting language

A scripting language, script language or extension language is a programming language that allows some control of a single or many software application(s). “Scripts” are often treated as distinct from “programs”, which execute independently from any other application. At the same time they are distinct from the core code of the application, which is usually written in a different language, and by being accessible to the end-user they enable the behavior of the application to be adapted to the user’s needs. Scripts are often, but not always, interpreted from the source code or “semi-compiled” to bytecode which is interpreted, unlike the applications they are associated with, which are traditionally compiled to native machine code for the system on which they run. Scripting languages are nearly always embedded in the application with which they are associated.( As Per source credit :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripting_language)
A scripting language is used to write the scripts on the web pages.These scripts are actually the programs embedded into HTML code and these web pages are run on the client computers. These scripts/programs are interpreted by the browsers. There are different types of these scripting languages that are commonly used today like JavaScript, vbscript, .net languages, perl etc.

scripting language is a vocabulary and syntax for giving instructions to a computer, just like a programming language. The differences between the two are largely aesthetic, to the point that people often differ on whether a particular language is a programming language or a scripting language (Perl is an excellent example).
Scripting languages tend to be “lighter” (easier to use, at the cost of memory), and are in many cases specialized for a particular purpose. As is noted in Alatea’s answer, scripting languages are very often interpreted–translated into machine code while running–as opposed to compiled–turned into an executable once, which can then be run more quickly. That feature makes it easier or unnecessary to port scripts to new systems, but again, at a great efficiency cost.
An example which is definitely a scripting language is bash (intentionally uncapitalized). Bash is a shell (command line user interface) for Linux, but besides allowing the user to enter individual commands and have them executed, it will read a file full of commands and execute them all at once. That file is called a bash script or shell script, and is interpreted by bash every time it is read. The standard vocabulary is very small, consisting mostly of basic programming functions (loops, branches, variables, etc.) but because each line is a shell command, they can include references to any program installed on the system.
Perl is a gray area because it contains aspects of both scripting and programming languages. It’s full-featured, and expandable to make that even more so. It’s also possible to compile Perl programs, but they’re more typically interpreted. The purpose of Perl also comes into play–it’s used both for very light utilities, much in the same way as bash, but at the same time, it’s extremely popular for programming websites.

The JavaScript is based on the main language java. Java script is an interpreted language. It is mostly used to add dynamic contents to a web page. These dynamic contents may be scrolling text, menus, pop-up windows, animations etc. JavaScript is an open language developed by sun micro system.

The vbscript is a scripting language that is based on a programming language visual basic. The vbscript also provides the same functionality as JavaScript. By default internet explorer supports vbscript and Netscape communicator supports java scripts.Perl refers to practical extraction and report language. It is also a powerful scripting language that is most commonly used.

Scripting Language : An Classic Advantage

Scripting language controls the operation of a normally-interactive program, giving it a sequence of work to do all in one batch. For instance, one could put a series of editing commands in a file, and tell an editor to run that “script” as if those commands had been typed interactively.

Advantages of Scripting Languages

Scripting languages are programming

languages, with three key characteristics:

-Very high level

-No fiddling with bits, bytes, and pointers

- Instant “gratification,” interactive development

- Dynamically typed

- No need to declare variables, types are inferred

from what you actually do with the variable

How Scripting Language Makes you much more productive ?

-Quickly allows you to change behavior of

complex programs

-“Glue” program parts together

-Because of high-level and dynamic typing

- No need to wait for long compiles

-More flexible than configuration files

With scripting languages, you don’t need to

anticipate every possible option

Classic Example of scripting languages Perl, Python, or Tcl,jva script,PHP etc.

Scripts : Introduction and Overview

In terms of computer programming ,scripts are code written in relatively simple programming languages. Scripts are a set of text commands written in a particular format that can be interpreted by a script processor. Scripts allow dynamic interaction with HTML pages.

Some languages have been conceived expressly as script languages. Among the most popular are Perl, Rexx (on IBM mainframes), JavaScript . In the context of the World Wide Web, Perl, VBScript, and similar script languages are often written to handle forms input or other services for a Web site and are processed on the Web server. A JavaScript script in a Web page runs “client-side” on the Web browser.

In general, script languages are easier and faster to code in than the more structured and compiled languages such as C and C++. However, a script takes longer to run than a compiled program since each instruction is being handled by another program first (requiring additional instructions) rather than directly by the basic instruction processor.
A script is sometimes used to mean a list of operating system commands that are prestored in a file and performed sequentially by the operating system’s command interpreter whenever the list name is entered as a single command.
Script are also Codes that initiate routines like generating Web pages dynamically in response to user input.
A computer script is a list of commands that are executed by a certain program or scripting engine. Scripts may be used to automate processes on a local computer or to generate Web pages on the Web. For example, DOS scripts and VB Scripts may be used to run processes on Windows machines, while AppleScript scripts can automate tasks on Macintosh computers. ASP, JSP, and PHP scripts are often run on Web servers to generate dynamic Web page content.

Script files are usually just text documents that contain instructions written in a certain scripting language. This means most scripts can be opened and edited using a basic text editor. However, when opened by the appropriate scripting engine, the commands within the script are executed. VB (Visual Basic) scripts, for example, will run when double-clicked, using Windows’ built-in VB scripting support. Since VB scripts can access and modify local files, you should never run a VB script that you receive as an unknown e-mail attachment.