AppleScript vs. FastScript vs. SlimerJS vs. Visual Basic Comparison Chart

AppleScript is a scripting language created by Apple. It allows users to directly control scriptable Macintosh applications, as well as parts of macOS itself. You can create scripts, and sets of written instructions, to automate repetitive tasks, combine features from multiple scriptable applications, and create complex workflows. AppleScript 2.0 can use scripts developed for any version of AppleScript from 1.1 through 1.10.7, any scripting addition created for AppleScript 1.5 or later for macOS, and any scriptable application for Mac OS v7.1 or later. A scriptable application is one that can be controlled by a script. For AppleScript, that means being responsive to inter-application messages, called Apple events, sent when a script command targets the application. AppleScript itself provides a very small number of commands, but it provides a framework into which you can plug many task-specific commands, those provided by scriptable applications and scriptable parts of macOS.

SlimerJS is a free, open source scriptable browser for web developers, allowing interaction with web pages through external JavaScript scripts. It enables tasks such as opening web pages, clicking links, and modifying content, making it useful for functional tests, page automation, network monitoring, screen capture, and web scraping. Unlike PhantomJS, SlimerJS runs on top of Gecko, the browser engine of Mozilla Firefox, instead of WebKit, and can operate in both headless and non-headless modes. APIs of SlimerJS are similar to the APIs of PhantomJS but there are a few differences in their behavior. However, most of the scripts for PhantomJS run perfectly well with SlimerJS right now.