The best replacement for shell script is condition in if statement.

The best alternatives to shell script are rated as following:
★★★★★  condition in if statement
★★★★★  operator in if
★★★★★  bash
★★★  bash script
★★★  batch script
★  applescript
  makefile
  and condition
  perl script

Your alternative for shell script is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about shell script, one probably shouldn't forget about expect.

Other search terms related to shell script and their ratings are:
★★★★★ expect
★★ if condition
★★ opening terminal
★ command line arguments
★ scp
You have in mind a companion for shell script and it is not yet here? Propose!



Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of shell script in all years. Click on graph for more.
shell script
condition in if statement
operator in if