# Worthwhile to build a gem? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [July 2, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/worthwhile-to-build-a-gem/142050 "2008-07-02T23:17:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/S-gw)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/worthwhile-to-build-a-gem/142050/1 "2008-07-02T23:17:51Z")
I have a project where a number of internally-developed Ruby libraries will need to be installed on numerous machines. Small apps will then be written using this set of libraries almost like a framework really. Is it worth considering building a gem out of this library and running a private gem server in order to manage these libraries? The alternative would be to maintain working copies (maybe in site\_ruby?) from an svn server – much like you’d typically maintain a Rails app on servers. This site seems to to be very out of date [http://docs.rubygems.org/](http://docs.rubygems.org/) based on the version numbers and self-proclaimed recent updates page. This page [http://docs.rubygems.org/read/chapter/5](http://docs.rubygems.org/read/chapter/5) says to see the DevelopersGuide, but I can’t find such a critter anywhere, so where is there current info available on building gems? Thx. – gw ---
**Author:** ![S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/S-gw)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/worthwhile-to-build-a-gem/142050/2 "2008-07-03T00:11:36Z")
On Jul 2, 5:14 pm, Greg W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I have a project where a number of internally-developed Ruby libraries > will need to be installed on numerous machines. Small apps will then be > written using this set of libraries almost like a framework really. Will these libraries all be in single project (ie. gem), or do your see them each as separate projects? > Is it worth considering building a gem out of this library and running a > private gem server in order to manage these libraries? The alternative > would be to maintain working copies (maybe in site\_ruby?) from an svn > server – much like you’d typically maintain a Rails app on servers. your using svn rather than git I take it. T. ---
**Author:** ![S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/S-gw)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/worthwhile-to-build-a-gem/142050/3 "2008-07-03T02:57:47Z")
On Jul 2, 2008, at 14:14 PM, Greg W. wrote: > This site seems to to be very out of date [http://docs.rubygems.org/](http://docs.rubygems.org/) > based on the version numbers and self-proclaimed recent updates page. > > This page [http://docs.rubygems.org/read/chapter/5](http://docs.rubygems.org/read/chapter/5) says to see the > DevelopersGuide, but I can’t find such a critter anywhere, so where is > there current info available on building gems? Rake::GemPackageTask is probably what you’ll find easiest for this: Rake::PackageTask.new(“package”) do |p| p.name = PKG\_NAME # string p.version = PKG\_VERSION # string p.package\_files = PKG\_FILES # array end ---
**Author:** ![S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/S-gw)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/worthwhile-to-build-a-gem/142050/4 "2008-07-03T03:36:58Z")
On Jul 2, 6:59 pm, Greg W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > server side data aggregation apps. > Cool. I’d say create a gem for it. Would Capistrano be helpful? > > > Is it worth considering building a gem out of this library and running a > > > private gem server in order to manage these libraries? The alternative > > > would be to maintain working copies (maybe in site\_ruby?) from an svn > > > server – much like you’d typically maintain a Rails app on servers. > > > your [you’re] using svn rather than git I take it. > > svn, yes. If I changed my code with every new fasionable thing, I’d > never get anything done. svn works just fine for me. 🙂 i can relate. T. ---
**Author:** ![S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/S-gw)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/worthwhile-to-build-a-gem/142050/5 "2008-07-03T01:02:18Z")
Trans wrote: > On Jul 2, 5:14pm, Greg W. wrote: > > > I have a project where a number of internally-developed Ruby libraries > > will need to be installed on numerous machines. Small apps will then be > > written using this set of libraries almost like a framework really. > > Will these libraries all be in single project (ie. gem), or do your > see them each as separate projects? The libraries form a single core of tools and logic upon which to build server side data aggregation apps. > > Is it worth considering building a gem out of this library and running a > > private gem server in order to manage these libraries? The alternative > > would be to maintain working copies (maybe in site\_ruby?) from an svn > > server – much like you’d typically maintain a Rails app on servers. > > your [you’re] using svn rather than git I take it. svn, yes. If I changed my code with every new fasionable thing, I’d never get anything done. svn works just fine for me. – gw ---
**Author:** ![S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@S-gw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/S-gw)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/worthwhile-to-build-a-gem/142050/6 "2008-07-03T07:17:37Z")
On Thu, Jul 03, 2008 at 06:14:49AM +0900, Greg W. wrote: > I have a project where a number of internally-developed Ruby libraries > will need to be installed on numerous machines. Small apps will then be > written using this set of libraries almost like a framework really. > > Is it worth considering building a gem out of this library and running a > private gem server in order to manage these libraries? The alternative > would be to maintain working copies (maybe in site\_ruby?) from an svn > server – much like you’d typically maintain a Rails app on servers. yes, it is always worthwhile to build a gem :-). Its good experience and something every ruby developer should know how to do. And if the code is useful outside your specific application it makes it easy to distribute to the rest of the world. This is exactly what we do at my job. Currently we have 18 gems that define our private codebase. We maintain an internal gem server, and capistrano deployment scripts to manage the installation of the gems on the various machines depending on their role. Our infrastructure is a mixture of command line, rails and merb apps, and this approach is working pretty well for us. enjoy, -jeremy