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Add to SafariWhen comparing AutoIt vs twinBASIC, the Slant community recommends twinBASIC for most people. In the question“What are the best BASIC-like programming languages?” twinBASIC is ranked 3rd while AutoIt is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose twinBASIC is:
Any code that runs in VB6 will run in twinBASIC (once v1 is released). Code that runs in VBA will also run in twinBASIC, though you need to account for any dependencies on the host application's object model (e.g., the Excel or Access Application object).
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Rich library included
Standard library includes solutions for all occasions allowing, in addition to capturing windows, keyboard and mouse events, to create a GUI, access Obj / COM, system processes and threads, the registry, MS Office applications, work with the network and databases.
Pro Compiles into portable executable
Interpretable code can be flexibly compiled into compact executable file.
Pro Easy to learn and start to use
Simple BASIC-like syntax and close documentation with clear examples.
Pro 100% Backward Compatible with VB6/VBA
Any code that runs in VB6 will run in twinBASIC (once v1 is released). Code that runs in VBA will also run in twinBASIC, though you need to account for any dependencies on the host application's object model (e.g., the Excel or Access Application object).
Pro No runtime requirement
The lack of a runtime dependency makes twinBASIC applications very lightweight and portable. Additionally, compiled executables only include necessary code from any referenced libraries. The classic "Hello, World" program compiles down to an 8 KB .exe with no external dependencies.
Pro Compile DLLs to extend VBA functionality
Can be used to extend VBA functionality by compiling standard and ActiveX DLLs in both 32 and 64bit.
Pro 64bit compilation is supported
64bit compilation is supported, as well as 32bit.
Pro At last! a replacement for VB6
At last there is a replacement for Microsoft VB6 - and for VBA too - twinBASIC programming.
Cons
Con Closed-source
Being a closed-source scripting language creates security concerns such as hidden back doors.
Con Unfriendly forum
Has well known reputation of the forum being unfriendly to newbies and casuals.
Con Basic-like syntax
Basic-like syntax is much less used these days than C-like syntax.
Con Inappropriate standard code editor
The default code editor SciTE is simple but extremely difficult to tune, not recommended for beginners. Alternative editors are weak for AutoIt.
Con Lack of flexibility and power
Many necessary things, for example, capturing and analyzing screen pixels or capturing keystrokes by their scan codes, are implemented only through direct access to the Win API through a rather cumbersome code.
Con Ceased to develop
Bugs are slowly fixed and the last major update was many years ago.
