SCRIPTING - HIGHER-LEVEL PROGRAMMING FOR THE 21ST-CENTURY

A fundamental change is occurring in the way people write computer pro grams, away from system programming languages such as C or C++ to scri pting languages such as Perl or Tcl. Although many people are particip ating in the change, few realize that the change is occurring and even fewer know why it is happening.This article explains why scripting la nguages will handle many of the programming tasks in the next century better than system programming languages. System programming languages were designed for building data structures and algorithms from scratc h, starting from the most primitive computer elements. Scripting langu ages are designed for gluing: They assume the existence of a set of po werful components and are intended primarily for connecting components . System programming languages are strongly typed to help manage compl exity, while scripting languages are typeless to simplify connections among components and provide rapid application development. Scripting languages and system programming languages are complementary, and are typically used together in component frameworks. However, several rece nt trends have greatly expanded the applicability of scripting languag es. These trends will continue over the next decade, with more and mor e new applications written entirely in scripting languages and system programming languages used primarily for creating components.