How do I create executable commands on MacBook Air?

Shell scripts can be made executable but they are not compiled by a compiler, thus they will not have the Apple exec icon, but rather a white icon with text on it when viewed from the Finder. This is also true for the foo.command named files as seen by the Finder that contain Shell commands and can be run from the Finder with a double click.

In practice, I use the following filename extensions for scripts or language files. There is no .tool recognized by macOS:

• Zsh (.zsh)
• Bash (.sh)
• Ksh (.ksh)
• Python (.py)
• Ruby (.rb)
• Perl (.pl)
• Awk (.awk)
• Swift (.swift)
• Objective-C (.m)
• C (.c)
• C++ (.cpp, .C)
• AppleScript (.applescript)
• JavaScript (.js)
• JavaScript for Automation (.js, .jxa)

VikingOSX wrote:

• Shell scripts can be made executable but they are not compiled by a compiler, thus they will not have the Apple exec icon, but rather a white icon with text on it when viewed from the Finder. This is also true for the foo.command named files as seen by the Finder that contain Shell commands and can be run from the Finder with a double click.

FYI, my shell scripts do have the "exec" icon on them if the Terminal is associated with opening them although by default I think the GUI app used to create/edit the scripts will be applied...and reapplied again. I wanted my shell scripts to be able to be launched by double-clicking on them to make things easier for my co-workers who are not as comfortable with the command line (I think I also had to remove the file extensions to allow this as well).

I'm not completely clear on what it is you're trying to accomplish, but perhaps this will help:

Make a file executable in Terminal on Mac - Apple Support (CA)

Regards.