Understanding the Distinctions Between Tasks and Scripts in Hardhat

It's crucial to grasp that nearly everything achievable with a task can also be accomplished with a script, and vice versa. However, there are nuances: certain actions are exclusive to tasks or scripts, and some tasks are more suited to one or the other.

Tasks:

One fundamental capability exclusive to tasks is the ability to override another task. For instance, consider augmenting your test workflow:

task("test", async (args, hre, runSuper) => {
  // Perform additional actions
  return runSuper();
})

What about custom tasks? In this scenario, tasks and scripts are essentially interchangeable. The primary advantage of utilizing a task lies in integrating with Hardhat's argument parser. For instance, when developing a token and needing to verify an address's balance on a specific network, you might execute:

hh balance --address 00x4403B5d2Fed270D18b6d83122C818c2413D9BC05 --network mainnet

(Where 'hh' represents the Hardhat shorthand.)

Scripts:

One distinctive feature of scripts is their executability directly via Node.js. Instead of:

hh run my-script.js

You have the option to use:

node my-script.js

This flexibility enables additional functionalities such as passing extra flags to the Node.js binary. Furthermore, it facilitates execution with alternative binaries like ts-node, ndb, or mocha.

It's worth noting that when adopting this approach, explicit importation of the Hardhat Runtime Environment is necessary:

const hre = require("hardhat");

Alternatively, utilize:

node --require hardhat/register my-scripts.js

to ensure the availability of globally scoped variables, akin to those accessible when using 'hh run'.

Another rationale for employing scripts is the ability to leverage alternative argument-parsing libraries like commander, rather than relying on Hardhat's built-in parser.

However, bear in mind that this approach forfeits the ability to specify the network using the '--network' parameter. In such cases, setting the 'HARDHAT_NETWORK' environment variable becomes necessary:

HARDHAT_NETWORK=rinkeby node my-scripts.js

Understanding these distinctions empowers developers to choose the appropriate tool—task or script—based on the specific requirements of their development workflow.

References:

• https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/83656/where-does-the-line-blur-between-a-task-and-a-script-in-hardhat