# Macruby - some basic questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/macruby-some-basic-questions/193437 "2010-08-17T18:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sentinel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@sentinel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sentinel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/macruby-some-basic-questions/193437/1 "2010-08-17T18:56:30Z")
I am going thru the macruby site and tutorial. 1. I’d like to know if macruby is essentially meant for developing GUI applications on OS X ? 2. Is there some list of example applications developed with macruby ? I’d like to see what’s been developed with macruby before i decide if its interesting enough for me to get into. 3. What is the essential advantage of macruby over ruby 1.9 ? Is it access to OS X core data/audio etc services and features? thanks, rk. ---
**Author:** ![sentinel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@sentinel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sentinel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/macruby-some-basic-questions/193437/2 "2010-08-17T19:14:22Z")
On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 11:56 AM, R… Kumar 1.9.1 OSX [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Is it access to OS X core data/audio etc services and features? > While I can’t answer any of your questions specifically, you might be > interested in the MacRuby list at > [http://lists.macosforge.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/macruby-devel](http://lists.macosforge.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/macruby-devel). ---
**Author:** ![sentinel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@sentinel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sentinel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/macruby-some-basic-questions/193437/3 "2010-08-17T20:28:11Z")
On 17 Aug 2010, at 17:56, R… Kumar 1.9.1 OSX wrote: > I am going thru the macruby site and tutorial. > > 1. I’d like to know if macruby is essentially meant for developing GUI > applications on OS X ? It provides a toll free bridge between ruby and the objective-c world of Cocoa and the other Apple frameworks. Macruby can be used for anything you want to use these frameworks for, but the obvious (and probably most popular) use will be for GUI development. > 1. Is there some list of example applications developed with macruby ? > I’d like to see what’s been developed with macruby before i decide if > its interesting enough for me to get into. I don’t recall seeing a list, but it was only at the last version (0.6) it was deemed stable enough for proper development so I don’t think there are many apps out there yet. There is a growing set of samples. > 1. What is the essential advantage of macruby over ruby 1.9 ? > Is it access to OS X core data/audio etc services and features? Undoubtedly access to the OS X core frameworks. It uses LLVM for its JIT and has ahead of time compilation (good for startup speed and keeping your code private). Not much effort has gone into performance tuning yet but given the effort going into LLVM and the low level system support (garbage collection, method dispatch and multicore support) I expect it will eventually be faster than standard 1.9. Dave. ---
**Author:** ![sentinel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@sentinel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sentinel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/macruby-some-basic-questions/193437/4 "2010-08-18T16:28:31Z")
Eric C. wrote: > On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 11:56 AM, R… Kumar 1.9.1 OSX > [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > Is it access to OS X core data/audio etc services and features? > > While I can’t answer any of your questions specifically, you might be > > interested in the MacRuby list at > > [http://lists.macosforge.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/macruby-devel](http://lists.macosforge.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/macruby-devel). Thanks for the answers. I was avoiding joining the list, till I knew what it was all about and whether it was interesting for me or not. A lot of the information assumes you already know all the Mac terms. I’ve been on a Mac for 6 years, but essentially been using GNU screen and vim and ruby. So no idea of cocoa, Obj-c, ruby cocoa, hotcocoa, frameworks, etc. So i’ve understood that it’s essentially for GUI development on OS X. Cheers and thanks.