Newbie: "compiling" scrips (?)

[Steve McAllister]

> You don't need to compile into the machine language of every
 > platform you target. Instead the "compilation" process
> generates bytecodes for a fictitious virtual computer. [...]
> Both Java and Perl work in a similar way

I would add the nuance that unlike Java, no explicit compilation 
phase has to be performed, which, in combination with lightweight 
syntax and library ergonomy, saves a lot of time, undermine anything.

For instance, when you go into quick-and-dirty checks, no sticks will 
be put in your wheels because you forgot to throw IOException, 
because a method throws more than the superclass's, etc.