A high-level programming language that is interpreted (translated on the fly) rather than compiled ahead of time. A scripting language may be a general-purpose programming language or it may be limited to specific functions used to augment the running of an application or system program. For example, JavaScript is widely used on Web pages for calculations as well as for displaying messages, drop-down menus and other user interface elements. Perl, Tcl and Python are very comprehensive programming languages that are often called scripting languages.
Application Scripts
Microsoft's Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is another example. A subset of Visual Basic, VBA is used to automate Microsoft Office applications. Many applications have their own limited-purpose scripting languages; for example, spreadsheets have macro languages, and communications programs (widely used for dial-up before the Web) and FTP programs generally support scripts for automating functions.
Command Line Scripts
Commands executed from the Windows, DOS or Unix/Linux command line are limited-purpose scripting languages, more often referred to as "command languages" (see command processor and shell script). See JavaScript, Perl, Tcl/Tk, Python, VBA, DOS batch file and Windows Script Host.
Application Scripts
Microsoft's Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is another example. A subset of Visual Basic, VBA is used to automate Microsoft Office applications. Many applications have their own limited-purpose scripting languages; for example, spreadsheets have macro languages, and communications programs (widely used for dial-up before the Web) and FTP programs generally support scripts for automating functions.
Command Line Scripts
Commands executed from the Windows, DOS or Unix/Linux command line are limited-purpose scripting languages, more often referred to as "command languages" (see command processor and shell script). See JavaScript, Perl, Tcl/Tk, Python, VBA, DOS batch file and Windows Script Host.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
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