GNU Bash vs VBScript

Overview

GNU Bash

Stacks1.4K

Followers723

Votes8

VBScript

Stacks52

Followers56

Votes0

GNU Bash vs VBScript: What are the differences?

Introduction

This article compares the key differences between GNU Bash and VBScript. Below are the six specific differences between these two scripting languages:

Syntax and Structure: GNU Bash follows a Unix-like shell syntax and primarily focuses on running commands in the shell. On the other hand, VBScript uses a more traditional procedural programming syntax and structure, similar to Visual Basic. This difference in syntax influences the way scripts are written and executed.
Platform Compatibility: GNU Bash is primarily used in Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, macOS, and other Unix-based systems. In contrast, VBScript is designed for Windows operating systems, making it more suitable for automation tasks and web scripting on Windows platforms. The platform compatibility is a significant distinction between the two scripting languages.
Functionality and Libraries: GNU Bash is mainly focused on executing system commands and managing files and processes in a shell environment. It provides built-in functionality for common tasks like text processing, file manipulation, and environment management. VBScript, on the other hand, offers a broader range of functionality including access to Windows-specific features, COM objects, and integration with other Microsoft Office applications.
Development and Debugging: In terms of development, GNU Bash scripts can be created using any plain text editor. Bash does not have a dedicated integrated development environment (IDE) for development, debugging, or error checking. In contrast, VBScript provides a more integrated development experience with an IDE like the Microsoft Visual Studio, which includes debugging tools, syntax checking, and code completion.
Scripting Languages Purpose: GNU Bash is primarily used as a shell scripting language for automating command-line tasks, system administration, and process orchestration on Unix-like systems. VBScript, on the other hand, is mainly used for web scripting, automation, and Windows desktop applications. The purpose and use-case of these scripting languages vary based on the platform and scripting needs.
Portability: GNU Bash scripts can be more portable between different Unix-like systems as long as the required commands and utilities are available. However, due to the platform-specific nature of VBScript, scripts written in VBScript may not work or require modifications when run on non-Windows operating systems. Portability is an important consideration when choosing between these two scripting languages.

In summary, GNU Bash and VBScript differ in terms of syntax, platform compatibility, functionality, development experience, purpose, and portability. These differences make them better suited for different use cases and platforms.

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CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Advice on GNU Bash, VBScript

Justin

Open Source Program Manager at Reblaze

Aug 15, 2019

Review

If you have a file (demo.txt) that has 3 columns:

Column-1    Column-2    Column-3
Row-1a      Row-2a      Row-3a         
Row-1b      Row-2b      Row-3b
Row-1c      Row-2c      Row-3c
Row-1d      Row-2d      Row-3d
Row-1e      Row-2e      Row-3e

and you want to only view the first column of the file in your CLI, run the following:

awk {'print $1'} demo.txt

Column-1
Row-1a
Row-1b
Row-1c
Row-1d
Row-1e

If you want to print the second column of demo.txt, just replace $1 with $2

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

GNU Bash	VBScript
The Bourne Again SHell is an sh-compatible shell that incorporates useful features from the Korn shell (ksh) and C shell (csh). It is intended to conform to the IEEE POSIX P1003.2/ISO 9945.2 Shell and Tools standard.	It is an Active Scripting language developed by Microsoft that is modeled on Visual Basic. It allows Microsoft Windows system administrators to generate powerful tools for managing computers with error handling, subroutines, and other advanced programming constructs.
Command line editing; Unlimited size command history; Job Control; Shell Functions and Aliases; Indexed arrays of unlimited size; Integer arithmetic in any base from two to sixty-four	Typeless Variable Declaration; Runtime Execution; Similar Syntax to BASIC languages; Extensible through COM
Statistics
Stacks 1.4K	Stacks 52
Followers 723	Followers 56
Votes 8	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 3 Powerful scripting language 3 Customizable 2 Widely adopted 0 Cross platform Cons 1 Too Slow	No community feedback yet
Integrations
Codecov	Windows

What are some alternatives to GNU Bash, VBScript?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Related Comparisons

GNU Bash vs VBScript: What are the differences?

Introduction

This article compares the key differences between GNU Bash and VBScript. Below are the six specific differences between these two scripting languages:

Syntax and Structure: GNU Bash follows a Unix-like shell syntax and primarily focuses on running commands in the shell. On the other hand, VBScript uses a more traditional procedural programming syntax and structure, similar to Visual Basic. This difference in syntax influences the way scripts are written and executed.
Platform Compatibility: GNU Bash is primarily used in Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, macOS, and other Unix-based systems. In contrast, VBScript is designed for Windows operating systems, making it more suitable for automation tasks and web scripting on Windows platforms. The platform compatibility is a significant distinction between the two scripting languages.
Functionality and Libraries: GNU Bash is mainly focused on executing system commands and managing files and processes in a shell environment. It provides built-in functionality for common tasks like text processing, file manipulation, and environment management. VBScript, on the other hand, offers a broader range of functionality including access to Windows-specific features, COM objects, and integration with other Microsoft Office applications.
Development and Debugging: In terms of development, GNU Bash scripts can be created using any plain text editor. Bash does not have a dedicated integrated development environment (IDE) for development, debugging, or error checking. In contrast, VBScript provides a more integrated development experience with an IDE like the Microsoft Visual Studio, which includes debugging tools, syntax checking, and code completion.
Scripting Languages Purpose: GNU Bash is primarily used as a shell scripting language for automating command-line tasks, system administration, and process orchestration on Unix-like systems. VBScript, on the other hand, is mainly used for web scripting, automation, and Windows desktop applications. The purpose and use-case of these scripting languages vary based on the platform and scripting needs.
Portability: GNU Bash scripts can be more portable between different Unix-like systems as long as the required commands and utilities are available. However, due to the platform-specific nature of VBScript, scripts written in VBScript may not work or require modifications when run on non-Windows operating systems. Portability is an important consideration when choosing between these two scripting languages.

GNU Bash vs VBScript

Overview

GNU Bash vs VBScript: What are the differences?