Should I choose scripting or compiled code for small tasks?

Question

I'm a Java programmer, and I like my compiler, static analysis tools and unit testing frameworks as tools that help me quickly deliver robust and efficient code. The JRE is pretty much everywhere I would work, too.

Given that situation, I can't see a reason why I would ever choose to use shell scripting, vb scripting etc, no matter how small the task is if I wear one of my other hats like my cool black sysadmin fedora.

I don't wear the other hats too often, under what circumstances should I choose scripting over writing compiled code?

Answer 1

Whatever you think will be most efficient for you!

I had a co-worker who seemed to use a different language for every task; Perl for quick text processing, PHP for small internal web applications, .NET for our main product, cygwin for filesystem stuff. He preferred to use the technology which was most specific to the task at hand.

Personally, I find that context switching between technologies is painful. My day-to-day work is in .NET, so that's pretty much the terms I think in. For most tasks I find it more efficient to knock something up in C# using SnippetCompiler than I would to hack around in PowerShell or a scripting environment.