AppleScript vs. FastScript vs. PowerShell vs. SQLite Data Access Components 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.

PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation and configuration management framework, consisting of a command-line shell and scripting language. Unlike most shells, which accept and return text, PowerShell is built on top of the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR), and accepts and returns .NET objects. This fundamental change brings entirely new tools and methods for automation. Unlike traditional command-line interfaces, PowerShell cmdlets are designed to deal with objects. An object is structured information that is more than just the string of characters appearing on the screen. Command output always carries extra information that you can use if you need it. If you've used text-processing tools to process data in the past, you'll find that they behave differently when used in PowerShell. In most cases, you don't need text-processing tools to extract specific information. You directly access portions of the data using standard PowerShell object syntax.