How can I use Ruby to create an “EXE” like DropBox used by Python?

Question

I have a project similar to DropBox. I need to automatically click specific folders up to S3 from Windows and Mac computers. DropBox will not do what I need, so I cannot use it. Also, I would like this to be a neat learning experience in the joys of file synchronization. :-)

Anyway, after I dug up the contents of the DropBox package on my Mac, did I notice that the DropBox client seems to be using Python, not Xcode? This is great news, if true, because I would rather use Python (or Ruby) on top of Objective-C. But I'm curious how they were able to compile Python what seems to be a standalone “EXE” for Mac? I can't see the actual .py files, so I assume this is some kind of compiled Python program?

If I wanted to do something like this, what steps should I take? When creating a separate package containing everything I need.

Is it possible to do this with Ruby?

Answer 1

For Python, the most popular solution is Py2App .

With Ruby there are MacRuby and Platypus . MacRuby is an implementation of Ruby for Mac, so it is better suited for projects using MacOS features written from scratch. Platypus is likely to be better for packaging existing scripts as an application.