Does anyone still use windows batch files?

[__jane__]

I am a complete non-programmer and have never really worked with windows scripting at all in the past but because I need an automation system to help with drudgery of a lot of file converting tasks using ffmpeg and other video stuff I've been slowly piecing one together with batch files and autohotkey.

This has got me all curious so I just had to ask, do most people still find themselves using batch files? Or are they just something quirky from the past that someone with a knowledge of a full program language would never need or mess with?

 

[jordan]

I use ruby for my scripts/automation. Such a nice, simple language

 

[ljads_jerrold]

I am a complete non-programmer and have never really worked with windows scripting at all in the past but because I need an automation system to help with drudgery of a lot of file converting tasks using ffmpeg and other video stuff I've been slowly piecing one together with batch files and autohotkey.

This has got me all curious so I just had to ask, do most people still find themselves using batch files? Or are they just something quirky from the past that someone with a knowledge of a full program language would never need or mess with?

If you manage a windows environment, batch files are still very much in use today by system administrators. It's not a quirky relic from the past, they are very handy in certain situations, where a full blown program developed in another language really isn't necessary.

I use Batch Files quite often and I think another tool that is a valuable asset in anyone's arsenal of tools is Notepad++ (the Macro Keystroke Recording is very very handy, especially when trying to do extremely repetitive tasks)

 

[smoketree]

I use Ruby for quite a bit of things and it covers about 90% of what I need these days. If I'm working on a windows app, I use C# if the need goes beyond simple batch type things. just the other day I found myself writing a simple PowerShell script to get better control over some VMs, and the equivalent in C# would be at least an order of magnitude bigger in terms of lines of code. It's all about what you're most comfortable with and using the best tool for the job. All languages have their strengths and weaknesses and it pays big time to be as well-rounded as possible because it causes you to think about different approaches to the same problem. Aside from batch scripts, it might be worth looking into "autoit" which is basically a scripting language that has good hooks into windows. That alone could solve a vast amount of automation scenarios for you.

I saw notepad++ mentioned and that's definitely a tool I have in my over-crowded "toolbox". The price is right too. At the same time, my editor of choice for coding these days is Sublime Text (I use ver 3). It's a commercial program but to me it's worth its weight in gold.

 

[__jane__]

If you manage a windows environment, batch files are still very much in use today by system administrators. It's not a quirky relic from the past, they are very handy in certain situations, where a full blown program developed in another language really isn't necessary.

I use Batch Files quite often and I think another tool that is a valuable asset in anyone's arsenal of tools is Notepad++ (the Macro Keystroke Recording is very very handy, especially when trying to do extremely repetitive tasks)

I love Notepad++ but I must confess I have no idea how to use the Macro Keystroke Recording feature. In fact, I didn't even know it was there!

 

[__jane__]

Aside from batch scripts, it might be worth looking into "autoit" which is basically a scripting language that has good hooks into windows. That alone could solve a vast amount of automation scenarios for you.

I have been using autohotkey but because I suck at programming I am not very good with it.