Scripting is programming, but not all programming is scripting. What does that mean? To eradicate the confusion, we are going to make start with a brief introduction about what a scripting language is.
What Is a Scripting Language?
JavaScript, Ruby, PHP, Python, and numerous others are today’s most popular scripting languages. The reason why they are most widely used in development is them being simpler and faster.
But, their usage is not restricted to the development of websites only.
Scripting is a language that doesn’t involve the compilation phase. It can be naturally interpreted faster and easier by writing onto the machine that you’re working with. So, if it comes to a programming language, such language is a compiler to put all the code together to be interpreted by the machine, read by the machine, and do what it has been planned to do.
On the whole, a compiled language runs more rapidly than interpreted programs since they are first changed into native machine codes. Secondly, compilers assess the code and look for bugs altogether which also slows the speed.
What Is the Role of Scripting in a Language?
As explained above, scripting languages are high in demand due to their ability to create vibrant content, especially in website development.
Some of the chief Characteristics of scripting languages are:
1- Approachability & practicality
2- Least programming knowledge/experience.
3- Faster in terms of performance.
4- Fewer steps are involved in the routine.
5- Coding/editing is rapid.
6- Makes it possible to add interactive activities on runtime parameters.
7- No compilation obligatory.
8- Scripts execution is possible on each architecture having the interpreter installed.
Before you understand the role of scripting in a programming language, you should first learn what a ‘script’ truly means. It’s a sequence of commands or a piece of program to tell another program what to do. For example, JavaScript is a scripting language that tells the web browser what to do.
Assume you’re an actor. You are offered a movie role and given a script to rehearse for it. That script sort of tells you how to play your role. Similarly, a script tells a program to perform a specific function. Like you want a video game to act in a different way, or to make a unique pattern with a 3D model of a design.
Scripting languages vs programming languages
The confusion arises due to the reason that both the terms are interrelated, but there are some major differences between the two.
1- Scripting languages are platform-specific and programming languages are not because they are platform-independent. Such as, a Java program can run on any operating system.
2- In Scripting languages vs programming languages, programming languages require a long code to be written and handled. But, a scripting language comparatively can be written using less code.
3- You cannot make an impartial mobile or desktop app by using a scripting language because no runtime environment is needed to interpret them.
4- A scripting language can run into multiple environments.
Top 5 Scripting Languages that are Worth a Shot
As we said earlier, many languages are considered scripting languages, but those are not actively used in web development.
Only these five are being widely used and all are worth a shot.
JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby are quite popular. If you’re are hearing ‘Groovy’ for the first time; it is a flexible language written exclusively for Java Virtual Machine. Its syntax is Java-compatible. If you have first-hand experience with Java, you won’t find it hard to learn it.
Conclusion
These popular scripting languages are intriguing. You can implement them in several variants, syntaxes, and their implementations can be used for plenty of other purposes.
So, do you want to have a dynamic website, need to automate your administration processes, or want video games for your businesses? Using a scripting language can be a game-changer for you.
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