When an application is downloaded from the Internet, it is not usually directly in the form of a package with an. Installing an application also involves making changes associated with the operating system (OS), such as telling the OS where the application is located, making associations between file extensions and the application, and possibly setting environmental variables associated with the application. Installing applicationsīecause the application package is more complicated than a simple file, the installation process can be more complicated than downloading a single file or simply moving a file from one directory to another. That’s why your computer makes it difficult for you to see into the package and gives the illusion that the package is just a normal file. It is unlikely that you will ever need to modify, move, or delete any of these files since doing so would probably “break” the application. There can be other folders containing spash screen images, other associated applications, lists, licenses, etc. There is also often one called Resources that contains things like information about how to display application information in different languages, icons, etc. Usually there is one directory within Contents called MacOS, which contains the actual executable code the makes the application run. So the idea that the package is a single file is clearly an illusion. Opening Get Info for the Contents directory shows that it contains 5342 files and directories. Within the Contents directory are a number of files and directories. Within the package is usually a single directory called Contents. In the screenshot above, I’ve opened the package for the Arduino app so that we can see some of the files and directories inside it. If we want to see what’s in the package directory, we need to right-click on it, then select Show Package Contents. Double-clicking on an application package does not open the directory – it launches the application. In Finder, the normal behavior if you double-click on a file is to open that file using the application associated with that file type, while double-clicking on a folder opens that directory. They are actually a special type of directory called a package. If you have made file extensions visible, you’ll see that they have the extension. If you look at an Applications directory using Finder, you will see a bunch of what appears to be normal file icons. Most applications are installed into the directory that’s available to all users, although sometimes during the installation process you’ll be asked if you want the application to be available only to you or to all users. Applications that are in the first-level directory are available to all users of the computer and applications that are in the Applications directory in the user’s directory are only available to that particular user. One Applications folder is in the root directory of the drive ( /Applications/) and another is within a user’s directory ( ~/Applications/). This whole process is called installing the application.Īs a practical matter, nearly all applications are located in one of two directories on a Mac. So installing an application requires not only copying an executable file to your hard drive, but also copying all of the other files and making necessary changes to the computer’s configuration in order for the executable file to run properly. There is still at least one executable file associated with each application, but there are nearly always many other files associated with that one that are necessary for that application to run. The situation today is much more complicated. All you had to do to run the program was to copy that file somewhere on your hard drive and run it. In the olden days, a computer program would often consist of a single file containing executable code. Go back to Lesson 2: Directories What is an installed application? Click for the Windows version of this page Understanding my computer - Lesson 3: Installing software
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