Scripting languages are, in essence, programming languages. The distinction between the two is that scripting languages do not require compilation and instead are interpreted. A program, for example, must be compiled before running, whereas a scripting language like JavaScript or PHP does not require compilation.

Compiler programs are generally faster than interpreter programs since they are transformed from native machine code first. Furthermore, compilers read and analyze code just once, reporting any faults that the code may contain collectively, whereas the interpreter reads and analyzes code statements each time it encounters them, stopping immediately if there is a mistake. In fact, the gap between the two is blurring due to modern hardware’s better calculation capabilities and innovative coding approaches.

Another thing to keep in mind when deciding whether a language is a scripting language or a programming language is that the environment in which it will be used must be considered. This is significant because we can create a C interpreter and use it as a scripting language, while also creating a compiler for JavaScript and using it as a non-scripting language (compiled language). V8, Google Chrome’s JavaScript engine, is a live example of this, compiling JavaScript code into machine code rather than interpreting it.

JavaScript, PHP, Python, and VBScript are examples of scripting languages that have generally been used without an explicit compilation step.

1. To programmatically automate some operations

2. Information extraction from a data set

3. Requires less code than standard programming languages.

 

Programming Language Applications:

1. They are usually run within a parent application, similar to scripts.

2. More consistent with mathematical models when integrating code

3. Programming languages such as JAVA can be compiled and run on any platform.