Concept in Definition ABC

Someone in my environment once defined the scripts as "the programs of those who do not know how to program”. Although perhaps this definition is very sui generis, it does hide a reality: the greater simplicity of the scripts compared to the programs made with programming complete.

A script is a set of commands and calls to programs that, together with a series of basic control structures, is used to automate tasks in an operating system.

The most classic example of this is the shell script of UNIX, thanks to which we can chain internal and external commands, combining them with filters and very basic control structures such as if... then... else, or iteration counters.

Their simplicity makes them accessible to practically all levels of user, from the most neophyte, even the most experienced, who regularly uses them to automate tasks routine.

The most traditional example of this last casuistry is that of the systems administrator who automates tasks such as giving register new users in the system, or delete files according to preferences, such as those before a date Dadaist.

The scripts do not need any type of compilation process, being completely interpreted at runtime.

You only need to write the script code in a text processor that is capable of working with plain text (.TXT files), and granting execution permissions to the resulting file that contains the script code.

Another example of scripts, this one for the more veteran readers, are the MS-DOS .BAT files, such as AUTOEXEC.BAT

Scripts are not only used in operating systems, but are also used at the application level.

Some applications have their own scripting language, as in Microsoft Office with Visual Basic for Applications, Emacs (one of the most famous in UNIX), or even the game Quake (scripting language QuakeC).

Scripting technology has also reached the web with JavaScript.

Said programming language devised for creating scripts, runs on the browser web, on the side of client, and allows actions to be carried out locally, from the computer of who connects. Obviously, with restrictions of safety.

Due to their simplicity, these languages ​​have a high level of abstraction, and are limited without being able to carry out low-level actions.

If what we want is to access the hardware or implement user interfaces, it is best to go to an appropriate programming language, leaving these scripting languages ​​for what they have been conceived: the automation of routine tasks.

In other contexts

On the other hand, in the field of cinematography, the word script has two uses, on the one hand, it will be the cinematographic script in which each of the details of each scene filmed. And on the other hand, the person who is in charge of assisting the director during the filming of a movie, having to write down the details of each scene that is filmed.

As is known, for various economic or organizational reasons, the sequences of a movie or a TV series are generally recorded with a different order to the narrative, even it is done on different days, which obviously requires a person to take care of achieving that continuity without time jumps.

In addition to script, whoever occupies this specific role can be designated by the term of continuist, since it is precisely in charge of guaranteeing the continuity of the story that is being filmed, in all its aspects, visual and plot, with the objective that the viewer does not experience any leap in the temporal thread of the story that is visualizing.

Another task of this role is to check that there is enough film to finish each shot.

At the behest of the Typography, script is a typeface whose distinguishing feature is that it respects the stroke created in cursive handwriting.

And in themusic A script is an effect widely used on the guitar that consists of producing a double-toned sound.

Image 1: Fotolia Dragon

Script themes