[ Thanks to Rob
Kennedy for this link. ]
“The basic question is “What is scripting?” If I were to
give a concise answer, it would be the following: Scripting is the
use of a special language to automate common system functions.
While many modern scripting languages have become so powerful as to
practically be full-fledged programming languages, the essence of
scripting is that of performing routine operations with existing
tools. Think of the script as glue which holds the various parts of
the system together.”
“What can be done with scripts? Just about anything you would do
with regular commands can be achieved in a script. There are
standard scripts for adding users to systems, starting and stopping
daemons, and much more. The entire init system, which starts
everything when you first boot a Unix system, is centered on shell
scripts (the meaning of this will be made clear in a minute).
Truly, learning how to use some form of scripting language will be
a powerful asset.”
“So, that being said, let’s survey a few of the more common and
popular languages in which scripts are written: shell, perl,
Python, tcl, awk, and sed.”