Wsadmin

The wsadmin tool is a command shell for the purpose of performing systems administration on all the artifacts in an IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) cell. It gets its name from the name of the shell script that invokes this command shell. This command shell can execute connected to a WAS cell or completely disconnected from a WAS cell (local mode). The wsadmin tool can be used to execute scripts written in Jacl and Jython, or it can be used interactively to execute individual commands. These scripts and commands perform administrative tasks like application deployment, configuration changes and run-time monitoring and control of IBM WAS.
History of WebSphere Application Server command shells.
The "wscp" stands for WebSphere Control Program. It was used in older versions of WAS like Version 4.0 and Version 3.5. The "wsadmin" command shell replaced "wscp" in WebSphere Application Server Version 5.0 and all subsequent versions. It can perform almost all of the tasks which can be done through the browser based administrative console, and it can perform some tasks that the administrative console cannot do.
Two Modes of "wsadmin".
The "wsadmin" could be operated by two "modes"; a "Remote mode" and a "Local mode".
Scripting languages: Jacl and Jython.
The "wsadmin" supports Jacl (an alternate implementation of TCL written in Java) and Jython (Java, Python) scripting languages. The choice of Jacl or Jython may depend on the programmer's comfort level. The Java/Java EE or C programmer may be more comfortable with Jython whereas Tcl experts may prefer Jacl. Though the script syntax is different, Jacl and Jython are equally powerful. The IBM Jacl to Jython Conversion Assistant program is used to convert "wsadmin" Jacl scripts into Jython.
Basic difference between Jacl and Jython syntaxes.
Here, five basic commands (for getting help for the relevant "objects") are written in their particular syntaxes. The case-sensitiveness in the scripting must be the crucial thing to be taken care of.