What is the difference between SCRIPTING LANGUAGES (say PHP) and PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES?
November 28th, 2009 | 
Author: How do these works?… In what way they differ ?
There is not one absolute definition.
These are some definitions that I’ve heard have been used:
1) scripting language refers to interpreted languages and programming language refers to compiled language. This is a blurry definition, some languages have both an interpreter and compiler. C is typically compiled, but there are C interpreter as well. To make things worse, there are some languages that are COMPILED to an intermediate language/bytecode and then this bytecode is INTERPRETED by a virtual machine, e.g. Sun’s Java VM, CPython, or .NET languages.
2) scripting language refers to a language embedded inside a larger program that is used to extend the functionality of a larger program. A Visual Basic for Application (VBA) automates Microsoft Office; Javascript is used to script browsers. While programming language creates a stand alone application. Visual Basic 6 and Visual Basic .NET creates a standalone program. This is again quite blurry, some languages can be used for writing standalone application but can also be embedded in another platform; CPython is typically used to create stand-alone application, but it provides hooks to allow it to be used for scripting another program.
3) scripting language refers to shell scripts, example is "batch scripts", bash, etc. Shell scripts automates tasks in the Operating System. Shell scripts is used to write glue codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glue_code
4) scripting language refers to a highly dynamic but slow languages; programming languages is has long compile-to-run cycle but runs very fast. This isn’t true anymore as many dynamic languages are gaining speed.
Whatever definition is used, one thing is clear though, the term "scripting" or "programming" is a property of the language implementation, not a property of the language itself. And don’t worry about whether a language is scripting or programming, they’re of no difference nowadays.
Posted in php programming
Well a scripting language is still a programming language. But I know what you mean. A scripting language is one that get’s interpreted by another application, and instructs that application to do something.
Whereas a compiled language will run directly on the computer itself. Okay, that’s not completely true, such as in the case of Java. Which get’s compiled, but still needs to be interpreted afterwords.
References :
There is not one absolute definition.
These are some definitions that I’ve heard have been used:
1) scripting language refers to interpreted languages and programming language refers to compiled language. This is a blurry definition, some languages have both an interpreter and compiler. C is typically compiled, but there are C interpreter as well. To make things worse, there are some languages that are COMPILED to an intermediate language/bytecode and then this bytecode is INTERPRETED by a virtual machine, e.g. Sun’s Java VM, CPython, or .NET languages.
2) scripting language refers to a language embedded inside a larger program that is used to extend the functionality of a larger program. A Visual Basic for Application (VBA) automates Microsoft Office; Javascript is used to script browsers. While programming language creates a stand alone application. Visual Basic 6 and Visual Basic .NET creates a standalone program. This is again quite blurry, some languages can be used for writing standalone application but can also be embedded in another platform; CPython is typically used to create stand-alone application, but it provides hooks to allow it to be used for scripting another program.
3) scripting language refers to shell scripts, example is "batch scripts", bash, etc. Shell scripts automates tasks in the Operating System. Shell scripts is used to write glue codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glue_code
4) scripting language refers to a highly dynamic but slow languages; programming languages is has long compile-to-run cycle but runs very fast. This isn’t true anymore as many dynamic languages are gaining speed.
Whatever definition is used, one thing is clear though, the term "scripting" or "programming" is a property of the language implementation, not a property of the language itself. And don’t worry about whether a language is scripting or programming, they’re of no difference nowadays.
References :