Scripting Languages vs Programming Languages

Many times, we have heard of scripting languages and programming languages synonymously. In this post, I would like to talk about the differences between these two terms. Although scripting languages ​​are programming languages, not all programming languages ​​are scripting languages.

With one, we use a compiler, with the other, we use an interpreter.

The most notable difference between a scripting language and a programming language is the execution. Programming languages ​​use a compiler to execute code; in this case, the source code is converted to machine code using a compiler. The compiler translates all the source code into machine code before executing it. In contrast, the Scripting languages ​​use an interpreter; here, the source code is converted to machine code using an interpreter. The interpreter functions differently from the compiler; the interpreter processes the source code while the software is running, line by line.

Typically, a scripting language focuses more on automating certain functionalities within another program or system, while a programming language involves developing more end-to-end and sophisticated applications.

Paul Zandbergen, in his book Python Scripting for ArcGIS, touches on this point and makes a comparison of Scripting and Programming Languages. He says the following, “Scripting is a programming task that allows you to connect diverse existing components to accomplish a new related task. Scripting is the “Glue” that allows you to put various existing elements together. Programming, on the other hand, allows you to build components from scratch, as well as the applications that incorporate these components.”. The other thing is that scripting languages ​​use built-in higher-level functions and mask the details that a system language may work with.

Programming languages ​​allow you to create the software from scratch, as in .Net or C ++. The scripting language is frequently used in automation or to extend the functionalities of another system. The ServiceNow Platform is an excellent example of using Scripting within a platform. ServiceNow developers use scripting to extend the capabilities of ServiceNow, automate tasks, and even helping build workflow applications entirely on the platform. Another example that comes to mind is Bash scripting. Bash in Linux allows us to automate repetitive tasks using mathematical expressions and programming logic found in other programming languages.

Key Notes:

The terms “Programming Language” and “Scripting Language” draw a distinction based mainly on how each executes the source code. Code that we write in a Scripting language uses an interpreter. Code that we write in a Programming language (the ones that are not the two things: scripting language and programming language) uses a compiler. Other differences are in their application; often, we use scripting languages to automate tasks or extend functionalities within a platform. We use programming languages that require compilation to build software from scratch.