Why AHK scripts ?
 

I'm thinking of learning the AHK but after some research I found out there are better scripting languages (e.g. AutoIt).

But everything here is in AHK. I found only one old script in AutoIt and it's now rewritten into AHK [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Also the AHK has some evident connection to the AutoIt (compatibility with older version and uses "AutoIt Windows Spy".
It seems like AHK is a retarder version of AutoIt (no offence [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] but very popular here.


Why is the AHK so popular right here? Has it some advantages compared to AutoIt or something other?

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

What would make you think AutoIT is superior?

AHK is an open-source evolution of an older version of AutoIT I believe - and after a quick glance at the AutoIT homepage, I can't see anything that makes it stand out [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

So tell me, what do you see that I do not?

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

If for no other reason, you will find that there are many excellent programmers here (such as _dave_, Roland, jukofyork, and many others) that can (and quite often, do) help people in debugging their AHK scripts.

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

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after a quick glance at the AutoIT homepage, I can't see anything that makes it stand out

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try to download it at look at the manual. More functions and the GUI is ultra-superior to AHK.
edit// by GUI I mean the GUI you can make for your scripts.

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

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you will find that there are many excellent programmers here

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yes but they started with AHK for no reason? As I understand it now the AHK was superior to AutoIT before the release of AutoIt3. Now the AutoIt is superior to AHK but AHK has it's momentum.

So I can start with AutoIt and I'll miss nothing, correct?

The autoit has big support community so I don't think that lack of support will hurt me.
Also the principles of both languages are very similar so I can learn from 2+2 AHK scripts.

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

Am I somehow too drunk/blind, or after a couple hours of reading AutoIT docs - does it not support hotkeys?

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

Quick look at the AutoIt GUI page and the only thing I'd need to check if AHK can handle is AVI.

In general, they are two languages that do much of the same thing. AHK has some strengths and AutoIT probably has it's strengths too. There are hundreds of languages in existance, there is no reason to restrict yourself to just one.

If you write a good script in AutoIt, people will use it and thank you.

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

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does it not support hotkeys?

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I'm new to this stuff but if you mean
Hotkey, KeyName [, Label, Options] then AutoIt has
HotKeySet ( "key" [, "function"] )

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

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In general, they are two languages that do much of the same thing. AHK has some strengths and AutoIT probably has it's strengths too. There are hundreds of languages in existance, there is no reason to restrict yourself to just one.

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ok then, what are the strenghts of AHK or Autoit?


If you learn 5 different languages you will become famous. If you learn 50 you will become a super-translator with $200.000 salary. But my approach is much simpler: to manage one. Preferably the better one [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

It's common for programmers to be competent in a dozen languages, your comparison to spoken languages is flawed. Just pick whichever one you like and use it and don't expect to make any converts. If people think your scripts are useful, they'll install AutoIt to use them just like they installed AHK for other scripts.

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

Here is a really long thread from the AHK forum discussing the two languages.
link

I have not read much of the thread. But I assume, if you filter through the finger pointing and name calling (probably from both sides), there might be some answers in there about which does what better. Just go in with an open mind. Think about what you expect to be doing and see which does that best.

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

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It's common for programmers to be competent in a dozen languages

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quite off-topic but that's not true. Many people (not programmers) know some basics of many languages. But programmers learn a new language once or twice a life (I don't count basic o pascal what are "study" languages).

I had a talk with few java programmers (local developers) and none of them can program big projects in C.
You can learn syntax quickly but it takes time to master something.

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

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Here is a really long thread from the AHK forum discussing the two languages.link


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problem solved. That's exactly what I wanted.

Quite long but never mind. Finally I have something to read at THAT room [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

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I had a talk with few java programmers (local developers) and none of them can program big projects in C.
You can learn syntax quickly but it takes time to master something.


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Obviously a matter of interpretation - but there really is no need to "master" a language - learning the syntax and general good practice is normally good enough.

Speak to some decent C/C++ devs and ask how many days it took / would take to become competent in Java with the aid of a decent book [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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programmers learn a new language once or twice a life


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Lol no - programmers learn a new language every time there is a need to. Which is often.

Seriously, most programmers will know a ton of languages.

Point is, languages exist at differing levels of abstraction from the hardware - and C/C++ is very close to it - which makes it bitch hard to learn, but once you do, learning other languages with a C like syntax (e.g. Java) is very much easier than going the other way.


Back on topic, i've had a bit more of a read of the AutoIT docs now. Yet to see anything that makes me want it (and believe me, if I found a hint I could do something I want to that I can't currently in AHK, I'd spend a week really learning it).

AutoIT's HotKeySet ( "key" [, "function"] ) looks totally Impotent next to AHK's hotkey implementations - I mean, the AutoIT version cannot contain function arguments - essentially useless for the scripts I write.


If I had to guess with my limited knowledge so far - I'd say AutoIT is targetted towards unattended automation of applications / computer systems - while AHK is more slanted towards user input driven control of applications / systems, given the more powerful hotkey setup. From what I understand so far, AutoIT can take the name of a function to be triggered via hotkey - while AHK can trigger entire scripts - or a multitude of functions with parameters, etc.

I suppose Hotkey in the name indicates this direction, too [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]


Admittedly the GUI stuff does look nice - and there is more abilities present (as standard) in AutoIT than AHK - but not many - and With DllCall and the superb coders on the AHK forum, one can accomplish anything with AHK GUI tools (C/C++ experience is very useful in this instance - messing with Win32 via DllCall).

Am I right in thinking you are trying to pick a first programming language to learn?

AHK has by far the simpler syntax, which was kinda confusing for me at first (more like Basic than C++).

Also, I'd pick AHK for no other reason than the open-source license it is released under. This ensures it will never just disappear / become unsupported (and if you know C+ - you can check out how functions do what they do - if you don't you can try an learn by example [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

If you are picking a first language to learn - I'd strongly recommend one that people you know are good at - it will speed the learning process greatly if you have someone to ask when you get confused.

Obviously feel free to ask AHK questions in this forum, you are bound to get answers quickly - but if you are good friends with Java devs - learn to read/write that if you think it will be useful - then turn your hand to AHK/AutoIT whatever you want to learn next [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

dave.

Re: Why AHK scripts ?
 

Maybe I'm more techie than it's usual but I care very little what people right around me are used to. I wanna the best available.
After all that's internet. No matter what you will find enough people that know something even about let's say sexual practices of pythons.

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I mean, the AutoIT version cannot contain function arguments

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Yep, that's what I was looking for. The problem is I have no clue what it means for me. I'll have to try both and see.

I've also read through the forums but it seems like two group of children with separate sand-boxes...