# FasterCSV 1.4.0 -- The Final 1.8 Release

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastercsv-1-4-0-the-final-1-8-release/148348>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [September 11, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastercsv-1-4-0-the-final-1-8-release/148348 "2008-09-11T22:50:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bbazzarrakk](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/47e85d/32.png) [@bbazzarrakk](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bbazzarrakk)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastercsv-1-4-0-the-final-1-8-release/148348/1 "2008-09-11T22:50:54Z")

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# FasterCSV 1.4.0 Released

I’ve released a new version of FasterCSV with all the features I’ve  
always wanted to add. Highlights include encoding support, better  
inpect() messages for IRb, and better parse error handling.

This will be the last major release of the FasterCSV gem. I’ll do  
maintenance releases fixing bugs, if needed, but I don’t plan to add  
anything else beyond that.

FasterCSV is stable on Ruby 1.8 and will remain useful there for as  
long as it is needed. It’s not being abandoned.

I’m working on moving these features into the standard CSV library in  
Ruby 1.9. I will also enhance the encoding support there to be m17n  
savvy. All future development will happen on that code base.

## What is FasterCSV?

(from the README)

FasterCSV is intended as a replacement to Ruby’s standard CSV library.  
It was designed to address concerns users of that library had and it has  
three primary goals:

1. Be significantly faster than CSV while remaining a pure Ruby  
library.
2. Use a smaller and easier to maintain code base. (FasterCSV is  
larger now, but considerably richer in features. The parsing  
core remains quite small.)
3. Improve on the CSV interface.

## What’s New?

(highlights from the CHANGELOG)

- Added encoding support patch from Michael Reinsch.
- Improved inspect() messages for better IRb support.
- Improved the parser to fail faster when fed some forms of invalid CSV  
that can be detected without reading ahead.
- Added a :field\_size\_limit option to control FasterCSV’s  
lookahead and prevent the parser from biting off more data than it  
can chew.

## Migrating from CSV to FasterCSV?

The README includes a section on the differences and you can read that  
here:

[http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/](http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/)

You call also see general usage in the documentation of the interface,  
right here:

[http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/classes/FasterCSV.html](http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/classes/FasterCSV.html)

For quick and dirty switching, try:

```
begin
  require "faster_csv"
  FasterCSV.build_csv_interface
rescue LoadError
  require "csv"
end
# ... use CSV here ...

```

If FasterCSV isn’t meeting your needs, I want to here about it:

removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid

## Where can I learn more?

FasterCSV is hosted on RubyForge.

Project page: [http://rubyforge.org/projects/fastercsv/](http://rubyforge.org/projects/fastercsv/)  
Documentation: [http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/](http://fastercsv.rubyforge.org/)  
Downloads: [http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group\_id=1102](http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=1102)

## How do I get FasterCSV?

FasterCSV is a gem, so as long as you have RubyGems installed it’s as  
simple as:

$ sudo gem install fastercsv

If you need to install RubyGems, you can download it from:

[http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group\_id=126&release\_id=5803](http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=126&release_id=5803)

FasterCSV can also be installed manually. Just download the latest  
release and follow the instructions in INSTALL:

[http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group\_id=1102&release\_id=26005](http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=1102&release_id=26005)

James Edward G. II

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bbazzarrakk](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/47e85d/32.png) [@bbazzarrakk](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bbazzarrakk)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastercsv-1-4-0-the-final-1-8-release/148348/2 "2008-09-12T21:12:58Z")

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James G. wrote:

> # FasterCSV 1.4.0 Released

Thanks, James! Your offerings are always welcome, of high quality and  
appreciated!