I am currently working on a large project and will relatively soon need a scripting language for utility scripts, like deploying the project in full from source, checking and fixing the database, building a ready to deploy bundle, and so on. The project is written in PHP and I thought about using it, but I dismissed that as not suitable for the task.
What I would mainly require would be, ordered by improtance:
That's all I can think of for now. I have reviewed Python and Ruby; Python satisfies all the requirements, and Ruby seems to as well, though I am not sure about ease of deployment on Windows and the availability of libraries. However, I am also looking for your experiences with using this sort of scripts written in the language of your choice.
You said it: Python meets all the requirements. That's my "vote" though I may be somewhat biased.
Edit: (on my first hand experience, in the context of tasks described in question)
A the risk of seeming either cocky or inexperienced, with regards to scripting-type activities, I've never painted myself in corner that Python didn't allow me to get out of.
A possible "critique" of Python however is, somewhat paradoxically, its extensive package library (in addition to its generous standard library); while it's nice to have all theses "3rd party" libraries, it can be sometimes difficult to gage the maturity, and effectiveness of some of these packages, and one sometimes wastes some time selecting these (or deciding whether to write "from scratch"). Yet, such evaluations can be fast enough however, thanks to the interactive nature of the interpreter.