Evil Bastard wrote: > 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
That kind of a language is typically called an interpreted language, in contrast to a compiled. But it's really not an aspect of the language, but rather of the tools being used to convert the source code to "action" on a computer. I've used both interpreted and compiled versions of Pascal and BASIC, and I know of interpreted versions of C etc. In a way, I guess Python's problem in achieving the popularity it deserves is due to its versitility. Python works well as an embedded macro language, and is used like that in both off the shelf software and bespoke systems. It's useful as a scripting language and is used in that way by NASA, ILM etc. It's also very useful for building all sorts of software without mixing in other languages or programs, and can replace VB, C++, COBOL, Java or what have you. How do you sell this without making it sound like snake oil? (Particularly with that name! :) While other P-languages are used beyond their intended use, Perl *is* basically a scripting language. The strong point of Perl is that it's a "unified" replacement for a whole bunch of Unix tools. PHP is for embedding functionality in web pages. Free cross platform ASP. They explaining Python in two sentences! -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
