Why do you prefer using a scripting language?

Scripting languages have seen tremendous growth in recent years. CodingNomads ran some stats on job postings on Linkedin (see cover image) and found that from the top-10 programming languages in highest demand in 2022, six of them are scripting languages.

Why do you choose to program in a scripting language rather than in a real programming language?

Please tell us your reasons.

To help you get started, here are some ready-made options:

• It is easier to learn.
• It is easier to be productive.
• It gives fewer errors.
• I do not want to have to wait for it to compile.
• It does not require an IDE, I can just use a text editor.
• I do not need type safety, because I do testing.
• There exist lots of libraries for it.
• I can modify my program as it is running.
• It is the only option on the browser.
• It is easy to find a job doing it.
• I have not learned any real programming language.

Comments

[José Pablo Ramírez Vargas]

Personally I don't think it is a "why do I, the developer". I think it is "what can be used for the problem". For example, if I need to modify CI/CD or create a custom start for a Docker image, I do bash. My selection is based purely on the problem at hand, not my personal preference. My preference only comes into play when more than one option is available, and as a professional, I don't bring personal feelings into the decision. I do what needs to be done in the language that can fulfill the objectives in the target environment.

Another example: Regardless of whatever "hype" some programmers might try to sell you, big companies use Windows. Not Mac, not Linux. Developers are provided with Windows PC's. Programming for big companies means programming in Windows machines. Therefore, for tools like automating parts of testing or manual versions of CI/CD I do them in PowerShell.

[Yuki Kimoto - SPVM Author]

Currently, Microsoft Windows Server 2022 Datacenter provides scripting languages. This is used for Github Action.

github.com/actions/runner-images/b...

Bash 5.1.16(1)-release
Go 1.17.13
Julia 1.8.3
Kotlin 1.7.22
LLVM 14.0.6
Node 16.18.1
Perl 5.32.1
PHP 8.1.13
Python 3.9.13
Ruby 3.0.5p211

Microsoft seems to be interested in scripting languages, not only for its own products.