What's the difference between Scripting and Programming Languages?
Last Updated :
30 Oct, 2023
Basically, all scripting languages are programming languages. The theoretical difference between the two is that scripting languages do not require the compilation step and are rather interpreted. For example, normally, a C program needs to be compiled before running whereas normally, a scripting language like JavaScript or PHP need not be compiled.
Generally, compiled programs run faster than interpreted programs because they are first converted native machine code. Also, compilers read and analyze the code only once, and report the errors collectively that the code might have, but the interpreter will read and analyze the code statements each time it meets them and halts at that very instance if there is some error. In practice, the distinction between the two is getting blurred owing to improved computation capabilities of the modern hardware and advanced coding practices.
Another point to be noted is that while classifying a language as scripting language or programming language, the environment on which it would execute must be taken into consideration. The reason why this is important is that we can design an interpreter for C language and use it as a scripting language, and at the same time, we can design a compiler for JavaScript and use it as a non-scripting(compiled language). A live example of this is V8, the JavaScript engine of Google Chrome, which compiles the JavaScript code into machine code, rather than interpreting it.
Some scripting languages traditionally used without an explicit compilation step are JavaScript, PHP, Python, VBScript.
Some programming languages traditionally used with an explicit compilation step are C, C++.
Applications of Scripting Languages :
- To automate certain tasks in a program
- Extracting information from a data set
- Less code intensive as compared to traditional programming languages
Applications of Programming Languages :
- They typically run inside a parent program like scripts
- More compatible while integrating code with mathematical models
- Languages like JAVA can be compiled and then used on any platform
Let us see the differences in a tabular form -:
Scripting Language | Programming Language |
A scripting language is a language that uses a naive method to bring codes to a runtime environment | A Programming language is a language which is used by humans to navigate their communication with computers. |
These are made for a particular runtime environment. | Programming languages are of three types -:
- low-level Programming language
- Middle-level Programming language
- High-level Programming language
|
They are used to create dynamic web applications | Programming languages are used to write computer programs. |
Scripting languages contain different libraries | They are high-speed languages. |
Example -: Bash, Ruby, Python, JavaScript etc. | Example -: C++, Java, PHP High-level etc. |
Scripting languages can be easily ported among various operating systems. | Programming languages are translation free languages |
These languages requires a host. | These languages are self executable. |
Do not create a .exe file. | These generate .exe files. |
Most of the scripting languages are interpreted language. | Most of the programming languages are compiled languages. |
All the scripting languages are programming languages. | All the programming languages are not scripting languages. |
It is easier to learn than programming language. | It can take significant amount of time to learn. |
It is less code intensive when compared with programming language. | It is code intensive. |
It does not create any binary files. | It does creates binary files. |
It is easy for the beginner to write and understand the code. | It is difficult for the beginner to write and understand the code. |
It is run inside another program. | It is independently run. |
It needs lesser line of codes. | It needs numerous lines of code. |
It has low maintenance cost. | It has high maintenance cost. |
Similar Reads
What's the difference between JavaScript and JScript? JavaScript: JavaScript is a programming language which is commonly used in wed development. Its code is only run in web browser. JavaScript is one of the core technologies of world wide web along with HTML and CSS. JavaScript was designed by Brendan Eich and it was first appeared in 4 December 1995.
2 min read
Difference between Python and JavaScript Python and JavaScript are both popular programming languages, each with distinct features. Python emphasizes readability and simplicity, ideal for tasks like data analysis and backend development, while JavaScript is primarily used for web development, offering dynamic and interactive functionality
4 min read
Difference between JavaScript and VBScript JavaScript and VBScript are both scripting languages used to automate tasks and enhance web pages. JavaScript is widely supported across all modern browsers and platforms, making it the preferred choice for web development. In contrast, VBScript is primarily used in Internet Explorer and Windows env
2 min read
Difference between JavaScript and PHP In this article, we will know about Javascript & PHP, along with understanding their significant differences. A long time before, most people used to think PHP is a server-side language and Javascript as client-side language as it was only executed in web browsers. But after V8, Node and other f
4 min read
Difference between Java and JavaScript Java is a statically typed, object-oriented programming language for building platform-independent applications. JavaScript is a dynamically typed scripting language primarily used for interactive web development. Despite similar names, they serve different purposes and have distinct syntax, runtime
5 min read
Difference between JavaScript and HTML JavaScriptJavaScript is a programming language that conforms to the ECMAScript specification. It is a high-level scripting language introduced by Netscape to be run on the client-side of the web browser. It can insert dynamic text into HTML. JavaScript is also known as the browserâs language. HTMLHT
2 min read