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Questions tagged [scripting]

In computer programming, a script is a program or sequence of instructions that is interpreted or carried out by another program rather than by the computer processor (like a compiled program is).

The term "scripting language" is used to describe a high-level programming language with relatively transparent syntax i.e. human readable. Most computer users view programming as something which is difficult. For this reason languages such as PERL, PHP and VBScript (ASP) are referred to and marketed as scripting languages to avoid the dreaded "p" word. In computer programming, a script is a program or sequence of instructions that is interpreted or carried out by another program rather than by the computer processor (like a compiled program is). 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.

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When would using a scripting language within a larger program be useful?

I have heard of several situations of people using say, JavaScript or Python (or something), inside a program written in C#. When would using a language like JavaScript to do something in a C# program be better then just doing it in C#?
Toby Person
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Why Python and not Lua?

Why has Python been backed by google and become so rapidly popular and Lua has not? Do you know why Lua has stayed in background?
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What makes a scripting language "embeddable"?

According to my experience, Wikipedia and prior answers, a scripting language is vague category of languages which are high-level (no manual memory management) and interpreted. Popular examples are Python, Ruby, Perl and Tcl. Some scripting…
Seanny123
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Programming Language vs Markup Language vs Scripting Language

Up until now I don't know the KEY differences between these three. When someone asks me about this, I only tell them that C# is a programming language, HTML and XML are Markup Languages, and JavaScript and VBScript are scripting languages. But what…
rcadaoas
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Dynamic Code Evaluation in Java - Clever or Sloppy?

I am trying to create a flexible ACL framework in Java for my application. Many ACL frameworks are built on a whitelist of rules, where a rule is in the form of owner:action:resource. For example, "JOHN can VIEW resource FOOBAR-1" "MARY can VIEW…
Twittopher
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Is programming in Python faster than in C, C++ or Java?

There's a widespread belief among programmers that the more dynamic and loosely typed the language, the more productive the programmer will be in it. Guido van Rossum wrote about programming productivity using python in 1998 and searching around the…
Kit Sunde
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What Impact Do Scripting Languages Have on Junior Programmers?

I had a discussion with one of my teachers the other day. We debated the impact that simpler scripting languages (like Python or Ruby) have on junior programmers. He argued that scripting languages engender sloppy coding techniques because…
joe_coolish
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Can JavaScript be used as a general scripting language?

I've used JavaScript and some frameworks (jQuery, Prototype, some node.js) for client-side web programming, but never on the desktop, where I do most of my scripting work in either Python or Bash. But IMHO, JavaScript would make a great scripting…
rdasxy
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Why is $ in identifier names for so many languages?

A lot of scripting languages like Perl, Awk, Bash, PHP, etc. use a $ sign before identifier names. I've tried to look up why but never had a satisfactory answer.
rdasxy
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What is the right way to manage developer scripts?

Developers create scripts to help in their work. For example, to run Maven with certain parameters, to kill unneeded background tasks that crop up in development, or to connect to a certain server. The scripts are not core build scripts nor are they…
Joshua Fox
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What is the difference between a macro and a script?

Aren't both just a set of instructions that get executed by some interpreter? (contrary to a full-fledged program, which runs (gets executed) at some computer system?
Quora Feans
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Question about Creating a Scripting Language

Say, for example, I wanted to pay somebody to create a programming language or scripting language for me. What type of document would they need, in order to fully understand what it is exactly that I want. I mean, are there standard documents that…
J.T.S.
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Should extension scripts be run in a sandbox?

In particular, this is about game extensions written in lua (luajit-2.0). I was contemplating whether I should restrict what these scripts can do, and arrived at the conclusion that I probably shouldn't: It's hard to get right. Sounds silly, but…
Cubic
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What are my choices for server side sandboxed scripting?

I'm building a public website where users share data and scripts to run over some data. The scripts are run serverside in some sort of sandbox without other interaction this cycle: my Perl program reads from a database a User made script, adds the…
alfa64
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Building a DSL: Scripted atop a general-purpose language or stand-alone?

I'm debating designing a domain specific language to simplify a given, obscure programming model. Part of the debate is whether to build it (as a script) atop an existing language/runtime (e.g. Java) or to make it stand-alone (own compiler,…
Jé Queue
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