If your after really small shortcuts, like the one derived from the script editor, i would stick with MEL. The (only) good thing is, that everything is printed into the script editor. Go for it, you will quickly be able to drastically speed up your workflow. As soon as you start serious scripting with concatenation, loops…
I'd go for python script instead. Same commands available but you gain a lot more general python functionality. Such as handling strings, lists, etc. Here's a good guide for getting started. http://www.chadvernon.com/blog/resources/python-scripting-for-maya-artists/
So after recently viewing some of Tor Fricks workflow, I really want to try and customize my workflow to really speed up production. I've often used hotkeys before but not in the way that I've recently seen most effective. A good example is how in Tors get faster with modo tutorial, he has hot keyed the ability to bevel…
If I were to make the same tool I would be starting off with a lot of assumptions that I would hope was the easiest route and required very little error checking. Otherwise as much might be more involved when ctrl mmb'ing the attr in question in the viewport ( The Maya Way ) is probably what u want ( gives u the same…