[easylion]

Java for the win. Have used java for any kind of programming or running shell commands or literally anything since last 5 years professionally and personally.

Language is just a tool, anything and everything works if you love it enough

[cozzyd]

java as a bash replacement is certainly a take I've never heard before...

[simoncion]

In fairness, Java is still pretty slow to start. If you're looking for non-traditional "scripting" languages, you might look into Erlang. 'erl_call' is a particularly interesting little helper script that's packed into the standard system.

[Alifatisk]

Sounds like you’d be interested JRuby :)