# Trouble getting started - some basic questions **URL:** \ **Category:** IronRuby\ **Created:** [April 8, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/trouble-getting-started-some-basic-questions/218686 "2012-04-08T16:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dubstep](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dubstep](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dubstep)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/trouble-getting-started-some-basic-questions/218686/1 "2012-04-08T16:36:13Z")
Hi, I have read through a few pages of the list and read what I can on the internet, but I am struggling to find answers to a couple of very basic questions. I have just learned ruby using Notepad++ and the windows package of Ruby 1.9.3. I used to be a systems programmer in assembly language and C. I have a basic knowledge of .NET and a good knowledge of Windows. I have IR 1.1 installed with VS 2010. These questions are what I am confused about: 1. Can I write a Ruby application that uses .NET for system stuff (Windows, forms, networking) and package that as an installation that end users can install on their computer without going through the whole (for users) Ruby installation rigmarole? i.e. Can I write a GUI applications and distribute them with a few DLL’s packaged and a requirement for .NET 4? 2. Is the IR implementation any faster/slower than the standard? 3. Can Ironruby use JRuby as for the VM? Or maybe that is an irrelevant question and I am misunderstanding how IronRuby works? 4. Is IR with Mono very bloated? I was going to use wxRuby, but it seems dead and I am now thinking of working in IR instead. Basically I am wanting to write simple GUI stuff in Ruby to help me learn Ruby better and also learn a bit of .NET. I will be using Rails for my main server app, but I am not moving on to that until I learn Ruby much better. I have gotten fed up writing console apps and want a simple way to get some GUI going. Thanks very much for any help or advice you can give 🙂 Kevin McCaughey ---
**Author:** ![xwordguy](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/x/65b543/32.png) [@xwordguy](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/xwordguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/trouble-getting-started-some-basic-questions/218686/2 "2012-04-08T18:10:16Z")
> 1. Can I write a Ruby application that uses .NET for system stuff > (Windows, forms, networking) and package that as an installation that > end users can install on their computer without going through the whole > (for users) Ruby installation rigmarole? i.e. Can I write a GUI > applications and distribute them with a few DLL’s packaged and a > requirement for .NET 4? Yes, sorta. While you can technically just have .rb files for your app and execute those directly, it might be easier to have a C# .exe file and load the Ruby files from that. That way you can have an .exe for people to open rather than them having to find the correct Ruby file. It will also make it easier to do some of the things I mention later in this email. A while back I did up a little post on how to get IronRuby working from a C# app: > **[Embedding a Ruby REPL in a .NET App](http://lovehateubuntu.blogspot.com/2010/12/embedding-ruby-repl-in-net-app.html)** > > I've finally gotten fed up with using VB.NET as a scripting language at work, so I decided to try dropping an IronRuby interpreter into the ... > 1. Is the IR implementation any faster/slower than the standard? Not sure, but if you’re using Ruby for a GUI app it doesn’t really matter which version of Ruby you use: it will be slow or fast depending on what you’re doing, the difference between the different Rubies is just noise. If a particular thing is too slow, write it in C# and expose it to your Ruby code. > 1. Can Ironruby use JRuby as for the VM? Or maybe that is an irrelevant > question and I am misunderstanding how IronRuby works? No. IronRuby is Ruby, but running in the .NET VM. JRuby is Ruby, but running in the Java VM. C Ruby is Ruby, running in the Ruby VM. All of the languages are the same, just running in different environments. The difference is when you start using libraries: if you use System.Windows.Forms, then you can’t use your code in MRI or JRuby because they don’t have that library (it’s a .NET library). Likewise if you use C libraries written for MRI, you can’t use JRuby or IronRuby, and if you use Java libraries then you can’t use MRI or IronRuby. > 1. Is IR with Mono very bloated? I was going to use wxRuby, but it seems > dead and I am now thinking of working in IR instead. Ruby in general uses up a lot more memory than the equivalent C# program, has nothing to do with using Mono or wxRuby or whatever. It’s one of the costs you pay to be able to have Ruby’s expressiveness. > From my experience converting code between IronRuby and C# it can be > as much as a 10x difference in memory usage. > Basically I am wanting to write simple GUI stuff in Ruby to help me > learn Ruby better and also learn a bit of .NET. I will be using Rails > for my main server app, but I am not moving on to that until I learn > Ruby much better. I have gotten fed up writing console apps and want a > simple way to get some GUI going. One thing to note: Rails is a web application framework designed for building websites, not GUI apps. If you want to build a GUI app, then you don’t need Rails at all. Hope this helps! -Rob ---
**Author:** ![xwordguy](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/x/65b543/32.png) [@xwordguy](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/xwordguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/trouble-getting-started-some-basic-questions/218686/3 "2012-04-08T19:16:55Z")
Rob, thanks a million for your very helpful reply - it has really clarified things for me 🙂 I am writing a server based system but, in addition to the web based front end (Rails), I want a GUI application which talks to the server. I am also wanting to play around with GUI programming. I know C# is probably easier in some respects, but I have really fallen in love with Ruby and would like it to do some prototyping and for quicker development of some things. And also just to play with! Thanks again for your timely reply - I am sat here all day trying to make my mind up which way to go and you have saved me hours of reading! Kevin