Feh, I object to these sorts of false categorizations. Like some types of program are better or wors than others. It is hubris, false pride, and nothing more.

A program is code that performs a task or tasks in expressed or encoded form. The generic term.

A script is a program whos expressed and encoded form are the same, ala a program that is directly or indirectly interpreted.

An application is a program designed for continuous interaction or end-user use. In other words, a "seen" program designed for regular use. Compare application to utility, daemon, driver, and kernel.

You are talking about words on different axes. Program and code are the generics, where one tends to lean toward the expressed and the other to the post-processed forms. Script vs. Compilable or Interepreted vs. Compiled is one axis (and where Perl falls in that spectrum is rather hard to define). That axis is concerned with how the language works internally, a classification of design. The Application vs. Utility axis is concerned with how the program or programs are used. It is a classification of applicability and user needs.

Script has a deprecating sense in that most people perceive "scripts" as being linear, disposable programs that aren't created with serious code standards. I tend to call them scripts, even when they get past 10,000 lines and multiple design reviews and such simply because I am an engineer at heart and the emotional overtones of words are ignored by the (overly?) technical. If you find that "script" gets your code treated differently, start calling all of them "programs". =)

--
$you = new YOU;
honk() if $you->love(perl)

In reply to Re: scripts-programs-applications by extremely
in thread scripts-programs-applications by cleen

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.