P.H.P. and Python

[Christopher Browne]

On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 2:33 PM,  <jemcinto-cpI+UMyWUv+w5LPnMra/2Q at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> I used to think that P.H.P. and Python were programming languages.
>
>  Then someone told me that they were not programming languages, but
>  scripting languages.
>
>  Now I have read that P.H.P. and Python are neither programming languages
>  nor scripting languages, but are instead frameworks.
>
>  What are the differences between programming languages, scripting
>  languages, and frameworks ?

The "snobbery" surrounding "real programming languages" versus
"scripting languages" dates somewhat back to the mainframe days where
the two sorts of languages interacted in a very strongly imposed
fashion:

- "Real" programmers wrote code in languages like FORTRAN, COBOL,
PL/1, and such like, which compiled into object code.[1]
- "Computer operators" would then write 'scripts', initially in JCL,
and later, in EXEC and REXX, or DCL, which would connect the 'real
programs' to the files that they needed to access.  The scripts were
mere "plumbing" for execution of the "real" code, written by the
"real" programmers.

In the world of Unix, the "compiled" language was typically C.  Bourne
shell was a tad friendlier than JCL and DCL, offering more opportunity
to implement logic in it.  But a common way to do things in C would
be:
- Write some essential functionality in C
- Write a script that uses the C code, along with tools like sort,
awk, grep, sed, and such, to perform work.

Over time, the functionality of the scripting languages grew, so that
you might be able to have more or less sophisticated logic implemented
in them.

Perl emerged, in particular, as an extensible scripting language.  As
its capabilities grew, the need to jump out to 'sort', 'awk', 'sed',
and 'grep' diminished, as relevant features were drawn into the
scripting language.

Eventually, there were enough function libraries (CPAN!) for Perl that
you mightn't need to do any C work in order to generate applications
of interesting complexity.  Simultaneously, people that thought Perl
looked like line noise started building alternatives, from whence
emerged Python, Ruby, and such.

Increasingly, those that treat "scripting languages" as toys evidence
bigotry that suggests that they are still tied to the likes of PL/1
and JCL ;-).

[1] The Real Programmers wrote in languages like C, PL/1, and such,
languages spelled out in CAPITAL LETTERS.  :-)
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