A toolbox language is a programming language that’s good at solving problems without requiring third party packages. My default toolbox languages are Python and shell scripts, which you probably already know about. Here are some of my more obscure ones. AutoHotKey Had to show up! Autohotkey is basically “shell scripting for GUIs”. Just a fantastic tool to smooth over using unprogrammable applications. It’s Windows-only but similar things exist for Mac and Linux.| Hillel Wayne
tl;dr annotated AHK scripts here. Anybody who’s spent time with me knows how much I love AutoHotKey, the flat-out best Windows automation tool in the world. Anybody’s who’s tried to use AutoHotKey knows how intimidating it can be. So to help with that, I’m sharing (almost) all of my scripts along with extensive explanations. There’s fourteen files in total, covering (among other things): Fast open specific folders on your computer Fast insertion of the current date, em-dashes, and ...| Hillel Wayne
For my StrangeLoop workshop I had to do a lot of powerpoint work. To streamline this, I made over 20 AutoHotKey shortcuts to run various ribbon commands. To avoid polluting my keyboard I built them all into a general-purpose system. All shortcuts started by clicking the thumb mouse button and then quickly pressing 1-2 keys in sequence. #IfWinActive ahk_exe POWERPNT.EXE pp_func() { pp_cmd := Map("a2", {cmd: "{alt}adu.2", info: "Set animation time to .2 seconds"} , "fh", {cmd: "{alt}hgoh", info...| Hillel Wayne
img {border-style: groove; border-width: 1px;} I love Autohotkey so much that it keeps me on Windows. It’s the best GUI automation tool out there. Here’s a shortcut that opens my current browser tab in the Wayback Machine: #HotIf WinActive("ahk_exe firefox.exe") >!^s:: { Keywait("RControl") Keywait("RAlt") SendEvent("^l") SendInput("{left}https://web.archive.org/web/*/{enter}") } #HotIf By comparison, the official extension takes four files to do the same thing. Four files!1 But I come he...| Hillel Wayne
People think it’s weird that I do all my development on a Windows machine. It’s definitely a second-class citizen experience in the wider development world, and Windows has a lot of really frustrating issues, but it’s still my favorite operating system. This is for exactly one reason: AutoHotKey. AHK is an engine for mapping keystrokes to scripts. I wouldn’t call it particularly elegant, and it’s filled with tons of redundancy and quirks.| Hillel Wayne