AutoHotkey V2 is getting more stable. In July, 2021 V2.0 beta 1 was released (which means it’s less bound to have huge changes and be more stable).
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.
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!
