V2 is now the official version of AutoHotkey!
AutoHotkey v2 is now the official version of ahk
🔥Unlock the power of AutoHotkey v2 with this easy SciTE4AutoHotkey setup guide🔥
🚀 Make the switch to AutoHotkey v2! 🚀 Here’s what you need to know 💡
The changes between AHK V1 and AHK V2 are quite large. Many things are not backwards-compatible so please be very aware when you’re working in AHK V1.0 (Vanilla), AHK V1.1 (AHK_L) or AHK V2.
AutoHotkey v2 is a major update to the AutoHotkey language, which includes numerous new features and improvements. Some of the main benefits of AutoHotkey v2 compared to v1 include:
- Improved performance: AutoHotkey v2 has been optimized for performance, with significant improvements in script execution speed and memory usage.
- Unicode support: AutoHotkey v2 fully supports Unicode, allowing scripts to work with text in any language and on any version of Windows.
- Improved object-oriented programming (OOP) support: AutoHotkey v2 includes enhanced support for OOP, including support for inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation.
- Enhanced GUI support: AutoHotkey v2 includes a new GUI system with improved capabilities and easier script creation.
- Improved error handling: AutoHotkey v2 includes improved error handling and debugging features, making it easier to identify and fix issues in scripts.
- New features and syntax: AutoHotkey v2 includes a number of new features and syntax enhancements, including support for async/await, type inference, and more.
Overall, AutoHotkey v2 represents a significant upgrade to the AutoHotkey language, with numerous new features and improvements that make it faster, more powerful, and easier to use.
I see some huge benefits of using AutoHotkey Version 2
- virtually everything is a “function”
- the language is “stricter” (one of the biggest critiques of AHK_L and vanilla is how “loose” it is however, for noobs this is a strength)
- GUIs are much simpler to create & build
- You can nest functions within functions (which will limit them inside the parent function)
While there are a lot of benefits of AutoHotkey V2, in my eyes, these come at a cost
- the lack of backwards compatibility is going lead to things breaking (but you can try this AHK_L to AHK V2 converter from Dimitri Geerts)
- One of the big allures of AHK_L is how noobs (non-programmers) can easily begin to automate
- If you’ve been using AutoHotkey long enough you remember how painful the Vanilla to AHK_L transition was! Currently there is a subforum for AutoHotkey V2 scripts as well as a general V2 Subforum however, if/when V2 becomes the default, chaos might ensue
AutoHotkey version 2 Webinar
Dimitri Geerts led an AutoHotkey webinar on AHK version 2. The first hour is below, you can see hour 2 of the ahk V2 webinar here
What you need to know to get started in AutoHotkey Version 2
Here are some helpful links & videos we’ve done around AutoHotkey V2
- AutoHotkey V2 documentation
- V2 tutorial by tidbit
- Tank and RaptorX discuss advanced topics and V2
- In a live AutoHotkey Friday, we discussed the forum and some tips of how to avoid a horrible situation
- Episode #127 of the-Automators’ Podcast Jackie Sztuk and I discuss if V2 should take on a new name
- Dimitri demonstrates Dark Styles
- Creating amazing ActiveX GUIs
- Here’s a link to an AutoHotkey V2 playlist (not just my videos)
AHK V2 Installer & Version Launcher
Want to have an installer for Version 2? This installer also allows you to detect the version of your script and choose which version of AutoHotkey to launch it with!
