AutoHotkey Versus AutoIt

A Comparison and Review of the Free Windows Scripting Languages

by Jack Dunning

Full Disclosure: While I attempt to put aside my personal bias (I've written ten AutoHotkey books) and give a fact-based appraisal grounded upon my research and knowledge of programming languages, I do not have the same in depth knowledge of AutoIt that I do of AutoHotkey. Fortunately, there is a good deal of data for review from people who have used both languages.

First, since both AutoHotkey and AutoIt are free to use, there is no reason not to test or use both. I'm a great believer in using the right tool for the job—especially when the tools are free. If you are comfortable with writing scripts, then you may be served well by playing with each language for particular purposes. There may be applications where one is more suitable than the other. The only cost is the time it takes to do it.

It's important to note that the current versions of the AutoHotkey and AutoIt languages are not interchangeable. Each has its own particular syntax (set of commands and functions) which, while they are capable of accomplishing the same thing, are written in a totally different manner. To make an informed decision you will want to see those differences. A couple of simple examples are provided below.

The Names AutoHotkey and AutoIt

The name of each scripting language gives us insight into the differences between the two. While you can do almost anything in AutoHotkey that you can in AutoIt (and vice versa), there are some noticeable differences. The underlying meaning of the terms AutoIt and AutoHotkey express the original impetus for each program. While both are used for Windows program automation, that is the primary thrust of AutoIt—thus the name. As suggested by the name AutoHotkey, hotkey creation and hotstring replacement through keyboard action is integral to the program. While AutoHotkey has implemented simple ways to create hotkeys and hotstrings, the AutoIt community has never consider those features high priority—although there is a specific function for creating hotkeys in AutoIt—HotKeySet().

It seems that the split occurred after programmer "Chris Mallett's proposal to integrate hotkey support into AutoIt v2" received little response from the AutoIt community causing Mallett to start writing his own version of the then open source AutoIt—calling it AutoHotkey. The name AutoHotkey demonstrates the primary functional difference between the two scripting languages. AutoHotkey offers simple direct support for one-line assignment of hotkeys and hotstrings while the current version of AutoIt requires the use of functions to implement the same or similar hotkey and hotstring features. (See the comparisons below.) This has caused the two language to be viewed very differently. You might say that AutoIt is for Windows automation and AutoHotkey for easy implementation of Windows hotkeys and hotstrings plus Windows automation. (This is not a completely fair comparison since Windows automation, app development, and hotkey/hotstring implementation can be done with either scripting language. They are just done in a different way.)

The result is that many AutoHotkey users who have switched have been extremely pleased with the results after converting most of their scripts to AutoIt, but, even then, they tend to continue using AutoHotkey for their hotkey/hotstring implementations—especially with long list of hotstrings such as the AutoCorrect scripts. Understand that most of these individuals who made the jump to AutoIt from AutoHotkey are more experienced with script writing and programming.

For beginning script writers, the syntax for hotkeys and hotstrings (text expansion) is much simpler in AutoHotkey (a couple of colons ::). This attracts novice users since their first scripts often consists of this type of easy coding. As these beginners become more daring, they naturally venture into the other slightly more complex commands found in AutoHotkey. The function oriented language of AutoIt may be intimidating for the newbie while it might be more natural for the experienced programmer.

The commands in the early versions of AutoIt looked very much like those in the current release of AutoHotkey. After the split between the two languages, AutoIt moved in a new direction (version 3) using more BASIC-like functions while AutoHotkey continued with the original command structure used in the early versions of AutoIt. I don't know that there is a clear advantage of one language structure over the other, but each certainly has its own separate learning curve.

AutoHotkey Versus AutoIt for Hotkeys and Hotstrings

The following is an example of what's required to set up a hotkey in AutoHotkey:

Insert::Run, %A_MyDocuments%

In AutoIt it takes few more lines:

HotKeySet("{Ins}", "openDocs")

Func openDocs()
  Run('explorer ' & @MyDocumentsDir)
EndFunc

This next example is a text expansion (or hotstring) for the phrase "by the way" in AutoHotkey:

::btw::by the way

I couldn't find a built-in hotstring function in AutoIt, but I did locate this example which includes a special AutoIt script (HotString.au3) to create the function HotStringSet():

#include <HotString.au3>

HotStringSet("callme{enter}", examplefunction)

While 1
    Sleep(10)
WEnd

Func examplefunction()
    MsgBox(0,"","You typed callme! :)")
EndFunc

Both languages are capable of much more involved programming and Windows app building which have nothing to do with either automation or hotkeys/hotstrings. AutoHotkey syntax uses primarily text commands whereas AutoIt uses functions. For example, to add a button to a Graphic User Interface (GUI) window AutoHotkey uses the following command:

Gui, Add, Button [, Options, Text]

GUICtrlCreateButton( "text", left, top [, width [, height [, style = -1 [, exStyle = -1]]]] )

The Confusing Side of AutoHotkey

In many ways the current AutoIt version is a much cleaner language than AutoHotkey. It has not fallen victim to the confusion caused by maintaining backward compatibility with older scripts. Since virtually any older AutoHotkey script will run with the current 1.1 version (AutoHotkey_L) of AutoHotkey, there are numerous redundant commands and methods for getting the same thing done. This is a source of confusion for AutoHotkey users because, although there is more than one way to get something done, each requires a different implementation.

The classic example is the use of both the equals sign (=) and a colon plus the equals sign (:=) to assign a value to a variable:

MyString = This is a literal string

CopyOfVar = %Var%

MyString := "This is a literal string."

CopyOfVar := Var

There is an attempt underway to fix the problem and clean up the code with version 2.0 of AutoHotkey. (Version 2.0 is still in the alpha stage of development and not recommended for newbies.) It is designed to eliminate the excess baggage. However, that would mean that many of the scripts available today would no longer run properly with the new version of AutoHotkey. It is difficult to know how widely this new, cleaner version would be accepted. The changes which would be required in older scripts are not well documented and many people will not relish the extra work. As far as I know, AutoIt does not have a similar issue.

Interest in AutoHotkey Versus AutoIt

Based upon links found on Google Trends, interest in AutoHotkey appears to have caught up with AutoIt. (See Figure 1.) This is a momentum which is not likely to reverse.

The primary reason for the growth of AutoHotkey is its initial simplicity. It's easy for the beginning script writer to get a result with just one line of code in a text file (a hotkey assignment or text string expansion). This is what got me started. Over time, and with a little curiosity, newbies start experimenting with other simple commands and scripts. Eventually, they are hooked and become part of the AutoHotkey community ready to help others.

Since many of the users don't consider themselves to be programmers, the AutoHotkey community works to help each other and is welcoming to beginning users. There are numerous online tutorials and people don't usually face impatiences when they ask newbie questions on a forum. (My experience on the AutoHotkey forums is that at any given time there are usually a number of people online willing and able to answer novice questions.) This makes it easier for people who have never before written a program.

Using AutoIt is a bit more daunting for the newbie script writer. If you're not already a programmer, the concept of using functions can be a little difficult to wrap your brain around. As far as I can see, there is no easy entry point in AutoIt for the complete novice. AutoIt seems to be used more by computing professionals and possibly to a greater degree within corporations. (I have no data to back up this statement, but it was a feeling expressed by AutoIt users.) If I had started with AutoIt first, then, who knows(?), I could be writing AutoIt books. However, I'm not sure the AutoIt users are as likely to need the help. As it is I'm happy with AutoHotkey—even with all of its quirks and idiosyncrasies. It's good stuff.

Some people suggest that AutoHotkey is not as extensive as AutoIt. I would be forced to differ. While there may be some minor technical advantages to AutoIt, I haven't seen much bragged about in AutoIt (arrays, object oriented coding, etc.) which isn't now available in the current version of AutoHotkey 1.1. As far as I can see, both have a great deal of capability for building Windows apps. If more is needed, then possibly the programmers should consider using a programming language such as C++ or Java.

If you're an experienced programmer and the simple hotkey and hotstring assignment found in AutoHotkey is not a requirement in your work, then I would likely recommend AutoIt as your Windows scripting language. If you're a beginner, then AutoHotkey may be just what you need. If you're somewhere in between, then it's a coin toss. Or, maybe you should use both—depending upon what you want to do.

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