bruno modulix wrote: > You can tell buy the most common use. bash is a scripting language, > javascript is a scripting language, perl is a scripting language, php is > a scripting language, Python is *not* a scripting language !-)
Perhaps a better definition - the term 'scripting language' is increasingly being used by CTOs as a justification for saving money by putting large chunks of their workforces on lower pay scales - an attitude of 'scripters aren't as skilled as real programmers, so don't deserve the same pay'. To me, the term is archic. What 'scripting language' means to me is: 1. insufficient facilities for general purpose or 'serious' programming 2. ability to get simple useful programs up and working quickly 3. absence of a hack/compile/link/test cycle. What makes 1 and 3 redundant is that linkage mechanisms have diversified over the years. For instance, java and python's 'import' statements, java's CLASSPATH and python's 'sys.path'. I guess a language could be called a 'scripting language' if: - the source code can be executed directly, and/or - source need not be converted to a separate file in a non-human-readable format before it can be executed, and/or - a change to the source file automatically causes a change in runtime behaviour By these, Python is most definitely a scripting language, and joins Perl and PHP. Whereas changes to java source files don't change runtime behaviour. OTOH, Python is also a compiled language, since it can be 'fixed' into a n executable binary format. -- Cheers EB -- One who is not a conservative by age 20 has no brain. One who is not a liberal by age 40 has no heart. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
