Portable scripting language for a multi-server admin?

Question

Please Note: Portable as in portableapps.com, not in the traditional sense of a language that can be used on multiple architectures or operating systems. Whoeve

Answer 1

I urge you to try Lua. Regarding your requirements:

• Tiny footprint (56 source files, under 150K compiled)
• Runs everywhere (uses only ANSI C)
• No installer needed; you compile from source (there's also a "batteries included" package that I haven't explored
• Doesn't need JVM and works with any ANSI C compiler, so you can compile with Visual Studio, not Cygwin
• Works with external processes and files but only to the extent supported by ANSI C. If POSIX popen is provided then that is supported also.

And your bonus points:

• Open source (MIT license)
• FFI to C is brilliantly conceived and executed—not quite as simple as Tcl but loads more powerful. Much better integration with C than Python or Ruby.
• GUI support is mixed but there are good bindings for wx widgets. QT support was there at one time but I don't know if it has been maintained.
• Linux is supported
• Language/compiler features:
  • Dynamic
  • Functional
  • Prototype-based objects and inheritance through metamethods (you'll want to see examples in the book below
  • Fastest bytecode compiler in the West
  • Interactive read-eval-print loop; load new code dynamically
• Able to package scripts into executables; either use Luiz de Figueiredo's srlua, or I can send you a 120-line Lua script that converts Lua source to a .c file that you link in with your app and the interpreter to make an executable.

Additional bonus points:

• Very crisp, clean, well-designed language.
• Small enough to master in its entirety and to be productive within a day.
• Superb book Programming in Lua (check out the previous edition free online)