2. Most frequently used languages

The choice of presenting here only the scripting languages most widely used today is motivated by a concern for conciseness, and in no way prejudges the qualities of other languages, which are simply more "confidential" in their use, but which may well become standards in the years to come; computing is rich in situations of this kind, born of technological or economic reasons.

What's more, the chosen languages are available on most current hardware, with the exception of VBScript, which is tied to the various versions of Microsoft's Windows systems (ports to other architectures are underway).

Another characteristic of these languages is that they are all available free of charge, as they generally originate from the academic world.