Since the days of DOS (Disk Operating System), there have been ways to automate loading of software and doing repetitive tasks. The earliest scripting language for DOS was Batch.
@echo off
echo Hello World!
pause
With the arrival of Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, more sophisticated scripting languages came along.
In the last 20 years there has been many scripting languages. Some of the more popular ones are below.
Visual Basic was discontinued by Microsoft and morphed into VB.Net while VBscript, JavaScript and Python are still widely used.
Windows PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on the .NET Framework. PowerShell provides full access to COM and WMI, enabling administrators to perform administrative tasks on both local and remote Windows systems as well as WS-Management and CIM enabling management of remote Linux systems and network devices.In PowerShell, administrative tasks are generally performed by cmdlets (pronounced command-lets), which are specialized .NET classes implementing a particular operation. Sets of cmdlets may be combined into scripts, executables (which are standalone applications), or by instantiating regular .NET classes (or WMI/COM Objects).[2][3] These work by accessing data in different data stores, like the file system or registry, which are made available to the PowerShell runtime via Windows PowerShell providers.
AutoIT and AutoHotKey shared a similar structure until 2003. AutoIT changed dramatically with version 3 while AutoHotKey kept its familiar commands. These are much easier than PowerShell to learn and are what I use most to automate Windows and create both scripts and applications.
AutoHotkey is a free, open-source custom scripting language for Microsoft Windows, initially aimed at providing easy keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys, fast macro-creation and software automation that allows users of most levels of computer skill to automate repetitive tasks in any Windows application. User interfaces can easily be extended or modified by AutoHotkey (for example, overriding the default Windows control key commands with their Emacs equivalents).[3] The Autohotkey installation includes its own extensive help file with an always updated web based version.
AutoIt /ɔːtoʊ ɪt/[2] is a freeware automation language for Microsoft Windows. In its earliest release, the software was primarily intended to create automation scripts (sometimes called macros) for Microsoft Windows programs[3] but has since grown to include enhancements in both programming language design and overall functionality.
While the scripting language in AutoIt 1 and 2 was statement-driven, designed primarily for simulating user interaction, from version 3 onwards the AutoIt syntax is similar to that found in the BASIC family of languages. In this form, AutoIt is a general-purpose, third-generation programming language with a classical data model and a variant data type that can store several types of data, including arrays. While version 1 and 2 were compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista and Windows 7, support for operating systems older than Windows 2000 was discontinued with the release of v3.3.0 in December 2008).
@echo off
echo Hello World!
pause
With the arrival of Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, more sophisticated scripting languages came along.
In the last 20 years there has been many scripting languages. Some of the more popular ones are below.
Visual Basic was discontinued by Microsoft and morphed into VB.Net while VBscript, JavaScript and Python are still widely used.
Windows PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on the .NET Framework. PowerShell provides full access to COM and WMI, enabling administrators to perform administrative tasks on both local and remote Windows systems as well as WS-Management and CIM enabling management of remote Linux systems and network devices.In PowerShell, administrative tasks are generally performed by cmdlets (pronounced command-lets), which are specialized .NET classes implementing a particular operation. Sets of cmdlets may be combined into scripts, executables (which are standalone applications), or by instantiating regular .NET classes (or WMI/COM Objects).[2][3] These work by accessing data in different data stores, like the file system or registry, which are made available to the PowerShell runtime via Windows PowerShell providers.
AutoIT and AutoHotKey shared a similar structure until 2003. AutoIT changed dramatically with version 3 while AutoHotKey kept its familiar commands. These are much easier than PowerShell to learn and are what I use most to automate Windows and create both scripts and applications.
AutoHotkey is a free, open-source custom scripting language for Microsoft Windows, initially aimed at providing easy keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys, fast macro-creation and software automation that allows users of most levels of computer skill to automate repetitive tasks in any Windows application. User interfaces can easily be extended or modified by AutoHotkey (for example, overriding the default Windows control key commands with their Emacs equivalents).[3] The Autohotkey installation includes its own extensive help file with an always updated web based version.
AutoIt /ɔːtoʊ ɪt/[2] is a freeware automation language for Microsoft Windows. In its earliest release, the software was primarily intended to create automation scripts (sometimes called macros) for Microsoft Windows programs[3] but has since grown to include enhancements in both programming language design and overall functionality.
While the scripting language in AutoIt 1 and 2 was statement-driven, designed primarily for simulating user interaction, from version 3 onwards the AutoIt syntax is similar to that found in the BASIC family of languages. In this form, AutoIt is a general-purpose, third-generation programming language with a classical data model and a variant data type that can store several types of data, including arrays. While version 1 and 2 were compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista and Windows 7, support for operating systems older than Windows 2000 was discontinued with the release of v3.3.0 in December 2008).