How to use simpleactionserver without having to make excutable

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Looking at the tuorial at: http://wiki.ros.org/navigation/Tutorials/SendingSimpleGoals

I get to the last step and it says:

After this, its as simple as running the executable we created. ./bin/simple_navigation_goals And, if all goes well, the robot should begin to move a meter forward.

Which works great and the robot moves forward.

But doing this have I really created an node that is running? I am used to this typical interface where you do

rosrun simple_navigation_goals simple_navigation_goals.cpp

How would I include this executable in a launch file for more complex use?

Thanks, goatfig

P.S. It is very possible that I just do not understand the mechanic for executables in ROS. If this is the case please just point me to an tutorial if one happens to exist.