What is the preferred process for installing applications on OSX?

Question

I come to this from the Windows world ... On Windows, we have Windows installer packages (MSI files) that are processed by a system component (Windows installer) to install applications (the idea is that this system component monitors library links and implements transactional installation, theoretically avoiding failed installations) ...

Can someone explain the architecture and installation process of the application on OSX? Is there an appropriate component for Windows Installer? And if so, how can I use it for my applications?

Answer 1

"" .app. ( Mach-O) , ; :

• - , /, NIB ( ).
• , , , ..
• , OS X ,

/Applications/, ( ).

Apple Disk Image ( .dmg), ; :

• Installer; ( .pkg), "" , ( , ..). Apple PackageMaker.
• ""; , ; , , "", "" (, . )

Answer 2

, :

: (Apple)

Mac .

Answer 3

"".

This is really a folder with a name ending in .app. The OS sees this as a whole. Inside the “folder” is the application distribution and metadata to tell the OS how to start it. Typically, the first step is to install system components.

Sometimes you find package packages ( .pkg) that work exactly the same way .msi.

Answer 4

OS X applications are typically "xcopy deployed" and are autonomously contained in so-called packages.