Extracting to a Gem

extracting.md

Extracting to a gem

Notes for a Columbus Ruby Brigade live-coding talk on 11-19-2012.

1. Compartmentalize the feature within your project
   • define your API
   • use bundle open and undefined method errors to discover "hooks" for your feature
2. Create gem skeleton
   • bundle gem gemname
   • add info to gemspec
3. Write README
   • if you can't clearly explain how to use your gem, it's not worth releasing
4. Move code from source project to gem
   • start with boilerplate in lib/gemname.rb
   • just get it working – don't worry about lib structure
   • in project Gemfile: gem gemname, :path => '../local_gem_path'
   • restart server, make sure it works
5. Bring over any JS or other assets
   • subclass Rails::Engine to make gem assets availablet to asset pipeline
6. Install as a real gem
   • rake install
   • in project Gemfile: gem gemname (remove :path)
7. Release to rubygems.org
   • rake release
   • create a rubygems account if you haven't before