> On Mon, May 23, 2005 at 12:42:05PM -0700, Ian Puleston wrote: > > > bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nathaniel Hall > > > My personal thought is that programs are compiled prior to the user > > > executing it. A script is compiled at the time it > > > is run. Is that a good way to differentiate them? > > > > Not really since Basic is a programming language that's usually interpreted > > rather than compiled. I'm sure most of us know what is scripting and what is > > programming, the problem is putting that down in words. My attempt would be: > > > > Programming is writing a program of statements that tell something what to > > do. Computer programming is writing a program of statements that tells the > > computer directly (or through an interpreter) what to do. > > > > Scripting is a type of programming that involves writing a script of > > commands that tell some other program, such as a shell or editor, what to > > do. > > Hi Ian, I like this approach. um, but... > > When you write a C program, isn't the source code a "script of commands" > telling another program (the compiler), what to do? > > I think the essence and intent of what you are saying is exactly what I > was thinking, but is there a loophole there ? > > The line between a script and a program is certainly a blurred one. I would argue that a script is *usually* considered less complex than a program. Additionally, scripts organize instructions just as programs do, but they cannot create new instructions to be executed. Programs can. Robustness and complexity are usually what separate the two. I've always thought of it like the difference between squares and rectangles. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. Similarly, all programs can be considered scripts, but not all scripts can be considered programs. ;) Shockwave
