On the moment I use Visual C++ for controlling machines. For every small modification the program has to be re-compiled completely. For me it isn't a big problem but it would be handy that other people without compiler can also do some modifications.

Are there any scripting languages/engines that can be used for machine control tasks?

How do other programmers do machine-tasks with Windows?

 

You may wish to try Python, as it seems to meet your criteria from a technical stand point. It is also a mainstream language, which is an important factor when considering the long term support of your applications.

The following is a fairly comprehensive list of the most popular programming languages as compiled by the "TIOBE Programming Community Index for November 2004" (http://www.tiobe.com/tiobe_index/index.htm). I have listed the top ten languages in order of popularity, with the ratings in brackets.

1 - 'C' (18%), 2 - Java (15%), 3 - C++ (14%), 4 - Visual Basic (10%), 5 - Perl (10%), 6 - PHP (8%), 7 - Delphi/Kylix (5%), 8 - Python (5%), 9 - SQL (3%), 10 - C# (1.5%).

Of the mainstream languages, Python seems to be the one that fits your criteria most closely.

 

This tends to be a problem if your have a program which does not have an operator interface. What I have used in the past is a text file which contains a definition of the changeable parameters. On startup the parameters are read from the file. Program changes can then be made by changing the file with any text editor removing the need for a program recompile. Make sure to validty check any file values before using.

Regards
Lorne

 

I'm sure what you mean by, "controlling machines".
However, I found that if you wish to access Win98 or higher, you could use WMI. I found that this technology is not too difficult to understand.

It will allow you to connect to remote machines if you have priviledges to do so. This is part of your domain user configuration.

It can be accessed (I used VBScript/HTA/HTML) from most scripting languages. Such as VBScript, JScript and up. It will allow access to query and configure all subsystems on the computer to which you connect.

Hope this helps...tom..