Different Tools for Different Environments

Inside the browser Netscape put JavaScript into Version 2.0 of its browser. Microsoft followed with support for JavaScript and its own VBScript. ActiveState's PerlScript offers another option for a relatively small community.
Inside a traditional Web server Perl provided a friendlier alternative than C in the early days of CGI. Perl is still critically important to many Web site servers. JavaScript, VBScript, Python, and others assemble information from many sources. Heavier tools (COM objects, servlets) are available, but scripts are important.
Inside an XML-oriented server While many 'XML Servers' rely on Java or COM objects for their internal processing, some - notably Zope - let you use scripting.
Quick command-line processing Scripts simplify projects that need to process or modify large quantities of XML. Perl's many search and replace functions are commonly used here, but other tools, like REBOL and Python, are growing.
Application-building There are times when a quick rollout that works is preferable to a finely crafted and highly efficient development process that takes months. Not all scripting languages can be used in this fashion, however.