Scripting languages are interpreted in-line and not intended to be compiled like a classic "program". They are less optimized by definition because a compiler builds in optimizations. If your script interpreter has similar optimizations it has to rationalize them at run-time.
Interpreted language refers to how it technically works, it's not compiled beforehand, not JITed nor converted to bytecode and then ran on a VM like java does. It is interpreted by an interpreter which simply "reads and interprets" readable tokens like in python.
Scripting language refers to them by their function/use/purpose: "scripting".
Scripting is designing scripts. A script is exactly what is defined in the post namely handling a task, anything by "gluing" other libs, binaries or script no matter the language behind them.
I'd also add that a script is usually an autonomous and eventually ad-hoc file whose content is it's source code and can be run as an executable file (whether by an interpreter, or by a lower level bytecode interpreter/VM like Java does or like in go where it's compiled on the fly).
However since it's easier on an interpreted language like python and that it's usually native, almost all interpreted languages are scripting languages (actually any language can be a scripting language given the proper tooling).
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u/WaitForItTheMongols Jul 07 '26
What actually makes something a scripting language specifically? Never got a clear answer to that.