Windows Script Host

WSH v Perl

Windows Script Host (WSH) and Practical Extraction and Report Language (Perl) are two types of programming language used for script writing. (Perl, 2006)

The Windows Scripting Host is a tool that provides access to objects in the Windows operating system, such as files, folders, and network items, to two built-in scripting engines. These scripting engines are for the VBScript and JScript scripting languages, which are derivatives of the full-blown Visual Basic and Java programming languages. Because VBScript and JScript are scripting languages, the programs that you can develop with them are much simpler and smaller than those that you'd develop with the full-blown programming languages. Furthermore, the scripting languages aren't as robust as the full-blown programming languages. (Schultz, 2000)

WSH is language-independent in the sense that it can make use of different Active Scripting language engines. (Windows Script Host, 2006) And although WSH enables you to run programs written in these languages, it is not a language itself. Basically, WSH is a host for users to write and execute scripts, written in a multitude of languages, in a stable environment. Another scripting host that most are familiar with is MicrosoftЎ¦s Internet Explorer. IE enables scripts that use the HTML object model to be displayed in a user friendly way.

An unusual aspect of WSH is that it was developed to be a general-purpose. This means that when using WSH the user has no restrictions on programming language. Windows Script HostЎ¦s abilities can be divided into the following categories:

„« The ability to intrinsically carry out system administration tasks.

„« The ability to use COM objects to carry out system administration tasks.

„« The ability to add standard programming features to WSH-compatible scripting languages.

„« The ability to run command-line tools.

(Microsoft TechNet, 2006)

Windows Script Host comes with Windows, meaning that most computers already have the capability to start script writing straight out of the box. However, due to the smaller memory footprint, WSH should only be used to perform quick and easy tasks. Running your scripts via WSH is incredibly easy; because it is built in with most operating systems, the user simply double-clicks the script icon and the scripts run. WSH can be run in two separate modes within Windows. The first of these modes is the protected-mode Windows-based host, or Wscript. By running scripts in Wscript, results will appear as Ў§pop-upsЎЁ on the desktop. The other mode, real-mode command shell-based host (Cscript), allows the user to run scripts from the command line interface. This allows a script to run with no visible signs of an operation taking place. (Rubenking, 2000)

Perl is a high-level programming language with an eclectic heritage written by Larry Wall and a cast of thousands. It derives from the ubiquitous C programming language and to a lesser extent from sed, awk, the Unix shell, and at least a dozen other tools and languages. Perl's process, file, and text manipulation facilities make it particularly well-suited for tasks involving quick prototyping, system utilities, software tools, system management tasks, database access, graphical programming, networking, and world wide web programming. These strengths make it especially popular with system administrators and CGI script authors, but mathematicians, geneticists, journalists, and even managers also use Perl. Maybe you should, too. (Deskware, 2005)

Perl, unlike WSH, is a script language. Perl is usually found on the web in the form of bulletin boards, chat rooms, forums, and a wide variety of online applications. In order to use Perl the user must purchase software not included