Linux® and Windows® Interoperability Guide

Windows Scripting

Let us turn to a short discussion of Windows scripting in general. Windows and its predecessor have always contained a batch language. It has been used to set environment variables such as the program search path and to carry out rudimentary installations. Windows always has had a disposition toward interactive interfaces rather than GUIs, even for servers. Thus, scripting has been less important on Windows than on Linux.

Table 4-1. Pros and cons of translation schemes

Translation Scheme	Pros	Cons	Example
Compile/link/execute machine code	High executable speed	Early binding	C, C++
	Modular libraries	Slower coding cycle
	Code protection	No source code
	Exploits platform
Compile/link/interpret/JIT	High executable speed	Slower ...