Scripting Languages

A scripting language is a programming language which is interpreted at runtime instead of being compiled to machine code. A language can be executed in different ways - interpreted orcompiled (to bytecode or machine code). Traditionally, when talking about the difference about scripting vs. programming, scripting languages are interpreted and programming languages are compiled. 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 .

The spectrum of scripting languages ranges from very small and highly domain-specific languages to general-purposeprogramming languages used for scripting. The most basic scripting interface developed at W3C is the DOM, the Document Object Model which allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure and style of documents. DOMspecifications form the core of DHTML . Scripting can make Web pages more dynamic. For example, without reloading a new version of a page it may allow modifications to the content of that page, or allow content to be added to or sent from that page.

Scripting languages are becoming more popular due to the emergence of web-based applications. Although scripts are widely employed in the programming world, they have recently become more associated with the World Wide Web , where they have been used extensively to create dynamic Web pages. While technically there are many client-side scripting languages that can be used on the Web, in practice it means using JavaScript. Applications for JavaScript span from interactive websites to the Internet of Things, making it a great choice for beginners and experienced developers looking to learn a new programming language 

What is Python?

What is Python?

Python is a powerful high-level, object-oriented programminglanguage created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991. Python's name is derived from the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus, and it is common to use Monty Python reference in example code. This language is now one of the most popular languages in existence. This language is now one of the most popular languages in existence. Since 2003, Python has consistently ranked in the top ten most popular programming languages as measured by the TIOBE Programming Community Index.

Its syntax is very clean, with an emphasis on readability and uses standard English keywords . A basic understanding of any of the programming languages is a plus. Moreover, an experienced developer in any programming language can pick up Python very quickly.

Python is a cross-platform programming language, meaning, it runs on multiple platforms like Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix and has even been ported to the Java and .NET virtual machines. Python interpreters are available for many operating systems, allowing Python code to run on a wide variety of systems. Most Python implementations (including CPython) include a read–eval–print loop (REPL), meaning they can function as a command line interpreter, for which the user enters statements sequentially and receives the results immediately. The design of Python offers some support for functional programming in the Lisp tradition.

Python is indeed an exciting and powerful language. It has the right combination of performance and features that make writing programs in Python both fun and easy.

Introduction

PHP is one of the most popular server-side scripting languages in existence today. The language has the ability to communicate back and forth with a server and create a dynamic web page for the user. If you have a web hosting account to run your personal blog or website, I can guarantee that PHP is already installed. Even the page you are looking at right now was created by PHP. If you have ambitions of becoming a web developer, PHP is a must for you and will allow you to create dynamic web pages based on external input, usually from the user. It is also important to note that PHP is an object-oriented programming language, and O.O.P. is one of the things we will cover in the series.

PHP is not the language to jump straight into if you have had no experience at all. Getting a grasp of the basic programming concepts might be easier in a language such as Visual Basic as the syntax and concepts in PHP might be quite confusing for a beginner. If you have no experience in scripting, I might also suggest taking a look at JavaScript which is a client-side scripting language, making it limited when compared to PHP. But don’t let that scare you, PHP teaches some great coding habits and if you are capable of picking things up quickly then you should be just fine. Let’s take a little look at the syntax first, here’s how you would tell PHP to output the text “Welcome to my website” to a browser:It all looks pretty logical, right? You are echoing out the sentence enclosed in the quotation marks to the web browser. And each statement in PHP must end with a “;” to notify the processor module that we have ended our statement. New lines and blank space are not recognised. You must also wrap PHP code inside “<?php” and “?>” tags to notify the server when a PHP script will start and end. So if you think you are ready to start learning PHP, click on the first video just below this paragraph to begin learning. I hope you find the free tutorials useful.