Unit 6: Scripting Languages
Scripts are everywhere in computer science. Any job in the computer science field will require you to write a script at some point or another, whether that script sets up the runtime environment for an application or automates the build process. Scripting languages are primarily designed for "gluing", i.e. connecting components. We will first learn the basics of scripting, learning in particular how scripts are useful. You will then learn about the wide-ranging family of scripting languages and the properties that those languages tend to share. By the end of this unit, you will be able to define scripting and identify situations in which a script would be most useful.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 27 hours.
6.1: What Is a Scripting Language?
Read this introduction to scripting languages. You will learn to distinguish between system programming languages and scripting languages (e.g strong versus weak typing, compiled versus interpreted).
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: Daniel J. Hood's "Introduction to Scripting Languages" URL
Read this brief overview of scripting languages, including short scripts in major scripting languages such as Ruby, Perl, JavaScript, PHP, and Python.
6.2: Regular Expressions
Read each of the pages under "Notes". Regular expressions are sets of symbols and syntactic elements used to match patterns of text.
6.3: Ruby
Read each of the pages under "Notes" for examples relating to Ruby, a popular programming language.
6.4: Python
Read each of the pages under "Notes" for examples relating to the Python scripting language.
6.5: JavaScript
Read the pages under "Notes" for examples relating to JavaScript.
Unit 6 Assessment
Please take this assessment to check your understanding of the materials presented in this unit.
Notes:
- There is no minimum required score to pass this assessment, and your score on this assessment will not factor into your overall course grade.
- This assessment is designed to prepare you for the Final Exam that will determine your course grade. Upon submission of your assessment you will be provided with the correct answers and/or other feedback meant to help in your understanding of the topics being assessed.
- You may attempt this assessment as many times as needed, whenever you would like.