Not long ago I was wondering whether I should spend more time on Python, a programming language I love (but don't know why), or on Ruby, the primary programming language where I work (which makes more practical sense). Since I was (and still am) in customer service with a foot in QA it didn't really matter that much. A few weeks ago the CTO asked me to write a script to update the dev server any time there was something new in Subversion, and rather than going with Python or Ruby I defaulted over to Bash. Why?
Frankly, although any number of programming languages can be used to write simple scripts, Bash seems to excel in this area. Although I have trouble imagining extensive software being written in Bash (and yes, I know there are some full programs out there based in it) it is incredibly useful for simple scripts.
Just a few weeks ago I heard Jorden Mauro talk about Git, and in his talk he mentioned several times how he could tweak Git with just a script here or there. Although I can't remember if he mentioned which language he used for this, the point is that scripts are handy little things to be able to create.
I am no software engineer and suspect I never will be. If I can make a career out of working with Unix and Linux in system administration I'll be quite happy. There's no way, though, that I could be worth my salt in that field without knowing my way around scripting.
So let me ask:
1) What language(s) do you use to write scripts?
2) Have you ever used a script to solve a problem in a particularly ingenious or clever way? What was it (the problem and solution)?
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