JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY HYDERABAD MCA 2021 SCRIPTING LANGUAGES Previous Question Paper (July/August - 2021 - R15)

Scripting languages are high-level, interpreted languages designed for automating tasks and integrating software components. Their key characteristics include:

• Interpretation: Code is executed line-by-line by an interpreter rather than being pre-compiled into machine code, facilitating rapid development and testing.
• Dynamic Typing: Variables do not require explicit type declarations; types are determined at runtime, allowing for greater flexibility.
• Ease of Use: They feature simplified syntax and high-level abstractions, reducing the amount of boilerplate code required compared to languages like C or C++.
• Built-in Data Structures: Most scripting languages provide powerful, native support for complex data types like associative arrays (hashes), lists, and dictionaries.
• Extensibility and Embedding: They are often designed to be embedded within larger applications or to act as 'glue' code, calling functions from external libraries or system APIs.
• Automatic Memory Management: They typically include garbage collection, which handles memory allocation and deallocation, preventing common errors such as memory leaks.
• Rapid Prototyping: Due to the lack of a compilation step and the concise syntax, they are ideal for quick development cycles and iterative design.

The following Perl script processes command-line arguments to identify the minimum and maximum values:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

if (@ARGV == 0) {
    print "No arguments provided.\n";
    exit;
}

my $min = $ARGV[0];
my $max = $ARGV[0];

foreach my $num (@ARGV) {
    if ($num < $min) { $min = $num; }
    if ($num > $max) { $max = $num; }
}

print "Minimum: $min\n";
print "Maximum: $max\n";