With IronPython out, it is now possible to create Windows applications utilizing the full .NET platform without breaking out of Python. I enjoy programming in Python almost as much as in Ruby, and I’m sure many people will agree that a lot of developers are going to be much happier now that they have the option to write in Python what they couldn’t before.
I was wondering if anything like this exists for OSX. I’m aware of the RubyCocoa project, with is an Objective-C bridge to Ruby. This allows you to write Objective-C applications in Ruby, which essentially means it allows you to write native OSX applications. This is not really the same thing as IronPython. We know that Apple is a supporter of dynamic languages. They include Ruby and Python in the current version of OSX, Tiger. They are even including Ruby on Rails support into the next version of Leopard Server.
Some googling digs this up: “support for script-to-framework programming is available, allowing Python and Ruby scripting to access Mac OS X specific APIs.” This forum post appears to be the source. I can’t really find any more information.
So… are we going to be able to write OSX applications in a dynamic language (hopefully Ruby!) when OSX Leopard comes out next year?