CompuServe Messages

Scripting is the same thing as programming except for the execution. The term "script" generally denotes an _interpreted_ set of commands, whereas "program" denotes a _compiled_ set of commands. The commands are usually oriented in a list-like fashion with some looping controls to repeat commands or branch to commands. "Interpreted" just means the commands are read as-typed (usually textual format), interpreted into an action by a shell program, and then the action is carried out by the shell. "Compiled" means that the list of commands is translated into machine-level code that stands on its own (or almost on its own) so that it executes very quickly. Scripts generally run slower than programs, but from what I saw, the scripting demoed at Siggraph executed sufficiently fast. To answer your question though, I think you will find scripting very handy for some simple things that might take a lot of manual labor otherwise. You will learn the scripting quickly if you start out by trying to do simple things, and then building on what you know. — James — MAP —