How to Get Started Writing Scripts

A few months ago, I received an email message from a reader saying that he has the desire and time to learn scripting but doesn't know where to start. That message prompted me to contact several scripting experts and compile a list of resources that this reader and others could use to learn scripting in the Windows environment.

To begin, it helps to know the basic concepts behind scripting. The article "An Introduction to Scripting Technologies and Object Models" (May 2000, InstantDoc ID 8599) provides an easy-to-understand overview of scripting. Before I go any further, however, let me mention two important notes:

1. I reference Windows Scripting Solutions, Windows IT Pro, Microsoft, and third-party resources. All the Windows Scripting Solutions and Windows IT Pro article references include an InstantDoc ID. To access these articles, simply go to http://www.windowsitpro.com, enter the specified number in the InstantDoc ID box at the top of the page, and click Go. As a Windows Scripting Solutions subscriber, you can access all Windows Scripting Solutions articles. For the benefit of readers who aren't also Windows IT Pro subscribers, I'm making all the Windows IT Pro articles I mention available for public viewing until October 2.
2. Some of the articles and books I mention aren't recent, but they're still good references for learning scripting. To borrow an old cliche, they're "oldies but goodies."

One point that "An Introduction to Scripting Technologies and Object Models" brings up is that there are different scripting languages. Because many scripting languages exist, I decided to narrow the list. I cover the languages of Windows shell scripting, VBScript, JScript, Perl, and T-SQL. For those of you who aren't new to scripting but who haven't had a chance to start working with Windows PowerShell (formerly code-named Monad), I also include some resources for learning this new command-line shell's scripting language, which is called Powerscript. . . .