Ruby as a Replacement for AppleScript

by , 3:25 PM EDT, March 20th, 2008

John Muchow has written a series of tutorials on how to replace AppleScript with Ruby. Some developer community members have chimed in, endorsing the general migration. The question was raised as to whether Apple may be grooming Ruby as an eventual AppleScript replacement.

In retrospect, CamelBones, the Perl-Cocoa bridge wasn't quite ready when Leopard was in final Beta, so it wasn't included. However, the package can still be installed from the CamelBones Website. Leopard does include the Python-Cocoa bridge, and Python is not significantly different than Perl as a pure scripting language. However, Ruby is a more modern scripting language that, in addition, is object oriented by design rather than having it added on -- and it's becomming very popular.

At RubyInside, Peter Cooper wrote, "With all of the developments going on between OS X and Ruby lately, I’m becoming convinced that Ruby could become the de-facto OS X scripting language of choice within the next few years. I’m a programmer, but I find AppleScript hideous enough to avoid it wherever possible, and I’m not the only one."

The recent discussions have drawn the attention of MacResearch.org where it was agreed that a good case is being made for making Ruby the favored scripting language in Mac OS X. While Perl and Python enthusiasts likely won't agree, the perceived enthusiasm for Ruby by Apple by the developer community suggests that, as always, Apple will drive the Mac OS X scripting technology in directions it favors.