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Exploring Some Lesser-Known Scripting Languages

Posted by Soulskill on from the it's-dangerous-to-go-alone,-import-this dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes: Scripting languages are used in everything from games and Web pages to operating-system shells and general applications, as well as standalone scripts. While many of these scripting languages are common and open to modification, there are some interesting, open-source ones that are worth a look, even if they don't have the substantial audience of some of the popular ones. Wren, Candle, Fancy, Pikt, and PPL all show what a single developer can do if they set out with enough motivation to create open-source scripting languages. The results often prove surprisingly powerful.

4 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. The best part? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    The little bit at the bottom of the page that says "Related Jobs: Could not get related jobs".

  2. Oooh is this free "Promote Your Language Day?" by lefticus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    http://chaiscript.com/

    Been working on it for over 5 years now. Stable and easy to use scripting for your C++ application.

    --
    I Do C++
  3. Who supports it by Snotnose · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I remember 7-8 years ago I was lead on a new project and we were deciding on a scripting language. I wanted Python over Perl. It was clearly easier to both read and write, and had object orientation.

    What shot it down? My boss telling me "we have a thousand engineers world-wide who know perl, and you 6 will be the Python experts. You really wanna support a thousand engineers learning Python over the next 5 years?"

    1. Re:Who supports it by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I switched from Perl to Python immediately after I discovered Python. Ironically, I first heard of Python when it was offhandedly mentioned in the book "Advanced Perl Programming." In Perl, I had developed the habit of writing a comment for nearly every line of code - much as most assembly programmers do. Python had similar semantics but much better syntax. It practically documents itself if you do it right. I never did figure out Perl's object syntax (bless, 'em), but objects are easy in Python.

      When I first learned Python, there were lots of Perl books on the shelf in the tech section of any large bookstore, and just a couple of Python books. As a Python fan, I was hoping it would catch on, and couldn't figure out why it wasn't taking the world by storm. Perl was the dominant player in CGI at that time, which made it a big thing. Over the years, I kept taking my little bookshelf polls every now and then, and the ratio changed. Turns out it just took awhile. Now, there are very few Perl books and lots of Python books.

      Thank you, Python. Oh, and thank you, Perl 6.