We all know programming language is a computer language that is used by programmers (developers) to communicate with computers. Have you heard of ‘scripting languages’?
Scripting languages are also computer languages, but are mostly interpreter-based. It uses a high-level construct to interpret and execute one command at a time.
Example of Programming Language: C, C++, Java, Scala
Example of Scripting Language: PHP, JavaScript, Python, VBScript
The basic difference is that all the scripting languages are programming languages, but all programming languages are not scripting languages. The scripting languages do not require the compilation step. On the other hand, programming languages need to be complied to machine code so as to run them on the hardware of an underlying OS.
This will give you a detailed comparison of these two types of computer languages to understand them better: Scripting Vs Programming languages
Features | Scripting Language | Programming Language |
Type | Interpreter-based languages. | Compiler-based languages |
Use | Used to create dynamic web applications | Used to write computer programs |
Running of Language | Program-dependent | Program-independent |
Conversion | Convert high-level instructions into machine language | Convert the full program into the machine language in one go |
Maintenance & Cost | Less maintenance cost | High maintenance cost |
File Type | Don’t create any file types | Generates a .exe file |
Complexity | Easy to use and easy to write. | Pretty complex in terms of writing and usage. |
Code | Very few and short coding lines | Require numerous lines of coding for a single function |
Support | Great support to user interface design, data types, and graphic design | Do not support or provide very little support for user interface designing, data types, and graphic designing |
Development time | Limited as smaller number of lines are required | High as more lines are required |
Conclusion: Scripting Vs Programming Languages
Execution process and environment is the deciding factor between these two type of computer languages. Programming languages are used to make software, whereas scripting languages were created to assist and guide these programming languages. Scripting languages are mainly used to define functionality. Both programming and scripting language have advancements and improved features in them.