AutoHotkey Community

[helpme]

Dear AutoHotkey Gurus,

What is the difference between GoSub and Functions? In what kind of situation is it better to use GoSub as compared to Functions?

Thank you for your guidance.

[engunneer]

they are two different methods of programming. Functions are slightly more complicated, but much easier to reuse. They are also capable of returning a value. Gosubs make code (slightly) harder to follow, but it really is about your preferences. Guis, for example use Gosub by default for buttons, so you need to provide a label for the button to activate.

They both have their uses, but just get used to whichever one you like. Most of things you find in the forum will be functions.

In my code, I tend to use functions for just one step of a procedure, then use gosubs for everything else.
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(Common Answers)

[ManaUser]

I guess I probably don't qualify is an AutoHotkey Guru yet but...

The biggest difference is that a function can return a value, so you can do something like this:
MyVar := MyFunction()

Another important differnce is that functions, by default, have their own set of variables. That's handy in a really complicated script where you would risk accidently naming two variables in different parts the same thing. Or if you're using a fuction written by someone else.

So basically you could really use functions all the time. In fact that's the standard way to to do things in some languages. If I were and AutoHotkey Guru I could tell you if functions have any extra memory or procesor overhead asociated with them but I'm not. My guess is that they do, but not too much.

[engunneer]

I'm not a guru, just a helper, but I think there is not a significant speed or memory difference. There are a few benchmarking scripts you could use to test.
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(Common Answers)

[helpme]

Thank you Gurus.

I have a simple mind and get confused easily, so I better stick to functions as they will make my code more readable and less messy.

Thanks!

[svi]

1.

[POINTS]

Functions are preferable because it makes your code easier to read and understand. You should use functions WHENEVER POSSIBLE (other than Gui labels of course). However, there are some times when GoSub makes more sense, but whenever you can try to use functions.
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