AutoHotkey Community

degarb · Joined: 14 Feb 2007 Posts: 98

I am just a vacation/weekend programmer of sorts when the itch stricks.

AHK is great in that it offers lightning fast quick uptake on use, little to memorize, super chm doc (though wish some links to non techie on some explanations that go over my head on first read), great community (esp if no news server), and ability to compile 200 exe's or pass to 230k engine via command line (more flexible to allow several scripts to run at once.). Some dll calling. I think the real power of AHK is the open/free nature (compiling exes is not ideal for commercial)

I understand hard thing can be harder than other languages.
I am told Python is more powerful.

However, some hurdles need to be cleared for use of python, that AHK easily overcomes.

1. Can python be as easily learned as AHK (downloaded ahk, compiled and edited first exe for ahk in 40 minutes while waiting on wife to get ready to leave.)?

2. Is there a free news server to get newsgroup?

3. How snobbish are the people on the group or good with beginners?

4. can a py file be compiled to a small portable exe without forcing user to download a 10 meg machine? (I don't like machines. I can rarely get a java distro to work. Never got win perl to work. Dot net had 10 meg distro with no ability to use download manager or resume-took me a week to sucessfully download on dialup. Got the python machine with manager fine and py files work, but would never write a program that requires a user to download 10 megs just to run my program.)

5. is there a clear advantage over AHK?

The other two programs mentioned here, didn't appear free or open.

Tarch · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 87

Hi,
I think you should reason differently because python and AHK are languages with different target. I mean:
AHK is primarily designed to do GUI automation, to be able to create GUIs and other things related primarily to automation and if you check in the home you will find these info (more or less) and it can do much more using DLLs (but this is not its primar objective). Python as many other languages is designed to be a full language. So replying to your points:

degarb · Joined: 14 Feb 2007 Posts: 98

Thanks for your comments. However, I am still murky on several of the questions. Just to clarify:

1. Is it easy: you wrote many docs.

question: How much useful code can I produce in first day of use? Are docs as simple as ahk?

2. Free news group, not snobs: you wrote here are the groups.

question: I need a free news service. most groups need these.

All other questions, your answer was don't know. (yes the 10 meg python is about the easiest machine to install yet. Apart from the hour it takes to download on dialup.)

Any comments are useful. THnaks

Tuncay · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 384 Location: Berlin

One thing to mention is, that Python is not only available under Windows, but AutoHotkey is. Python is available to Linux also and on my (not very old) Suse distribution, it is preinstalled.

Ok may be that is not an argument for you to use Python.

SanskritFritz · Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Posts: 283 Location: Hungary, Budapest

There is a library for Python, that is similar to AutoHotkey, though with much less capabilities:
http://www.ranorex.com/
_________________
Is there another word for synonym?

azure · Joined: 07 Jun 2007 Posts: 296

much less capabilities than what? than ahk or than python?

Grumpy · Guest

Libraries for a language enhance/extend it, they don't reduce their capabilities...

SanskritFritz · Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Posts: 283 Location: Hungary, Budapest

RaptoR · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject:

degarb,

Python is conceptually complete full-fledged programming language, it is not intended to provide only support for some tool. It can be integrated in any program in variety of languages (Java, C, C++, .net etc).