[SOLVED] How to decide when to use what scripting language

gacanepa · 06-22-2012, 02:04 PM

Hi everyone!
As a Linux newbie I've had some experience with 2 scripting languages so far, namely BASH and Python.
I would like to know which one you would recommend (and why). I think this must depend on what I will be doing - 75% sysadmin jobs and 25% web development.
Thanks in advance!

szboardstretcher · 06-22-2012, 02:10 PM

Python.

Caveat: bash scripts can *sometimes* be more portable from one system to another. And Python does not come pre-installed on some systems.

limescout · 06-22-2012, 03:36 PM

I'd recommend Python for anything working with files of data. It's got great regexp support and it's file reading functions are very straightforward. I understand Python works great with the web as well.

For anything involving other programs on the system, pipes, etc. BASH is usually better. You could always do an os.system() to get similar functionality in Python though.

I think it ultimately depends on what you're more comfortable with. For the web stuff, Python is definitely the way to go though.

Kustom42 · 06-22-2012, 03:43 PM

COBOL with FoxPro for the win!

But yea Python is what I use for most everything. I use bash for quick jobs or quick script of a sys admin task that I want to automate but thats about it.

gacanepa · 06-22-2012, 09:17 PM

Thank you guys for your suggestions. I will have to take a closer look at Python then!

grail · 06-23-2012, 04:19 AM

Best tool for the job at hand is generally the best way to look at things.

David the H. · 06-24-2012, 10:25 AM

Assuming you know the languages well, then it should usually be fairly obvious which one is most appropriate for the job at hand.

If you can't easily decide which one would better suit a particular job, then it likely doesn't matter very much, and you should be able to simply pick whichever one you prefer working in.