Ruby.NET version 0.9 has been released under the new open source community model. Ruby.NET is a dynamic, open source programming language with a compiler that translates Ruby source code into .NET intermediate code.
Components implemented using the Ruby language can:
- Natively execute on the .NET platform
- Be linked with third-party components developed using other .NET languages such as C#.
- Utilize the extensive resources of the .NET platform including visual design and debugging tools, the security framework and an extensive collection of class libraries used, for example, to create Windows forms, web ,and database applications.
Ruby.NET provides two different front-ends to the compiler:
- RubyCompiler.exe: takes one or more Ruby source files and statically compiles them into a .dll or .exe assembly file. These assemblies can then be dynamically linked with other assemblies (possibly created using other .NET languages) to create an application. This frontend is designed primarily for developers coming from the .NET world and so takes approximately the same command line arguments as Microsoft's C# compiler. Ruby.exe: is intended to emulate Matz's Ruby interpreter (MRI). It takes a single Ruby source file and executes it. Internally Ruby.exe compiles the Ruby source file into a .NET assembly and then loads and executes it, but this is all transparent to the user as no assembly files are actually written out to disk. This front-end is designed primarily for developers coming from the Ruby world and so takes approximately the same command-line arguments as MRI.
- Ruby.NET also includes a Visual Studio integration package for Ruby.NET, for developing Ruby projects within a common IDE. The plugin provides syntax coloring and error checking, a visual forms designer, and integrated building and debugging.
