Practical Ruby Gems

This book is a comprehensive guide to utilizing and creating Ruby Gems. Coverage provides an enormous code library that will help developers improve their projects. It details 34 of the best and most useful Gems, including ones to speed up web applications, process credit card payments, produce PDF documents, read and update RSS feeds, and acquire real-time shipping prices from FedEx and UPS. Each of these also comes complete with actual use cases and code examples that readers can immediately use in their own projects. In addition, the book describes how readers can package and distribute their own Ruby Gems.

David Berube is a Ruby developer, trainer, author, and speaker. He's used both Ruby and Ruby on Rails for several years, starting in 2003 when he became a Ruby advocate after he wrote about the language for Dr Dobb's Journal. Prior to this, he worked professionally with PHP, Perl, C++, and Visual Basic. His professional accomplishments include creating the Ruby on Rails engine for CoolRuby.com, a site that tracks the latest Ruby developments, and working with ThoughtBot.com on the Rails engine that powers Sermo America's Top Doctor contest. Additionally, he has worked on several other Ruby projects, including the engine powering CyberKnowHow's BirdFluBreakingNews search engine, and he also created the Slueshi text adventure game system, a multiplayer text game engine written in Ruby. David's journalism has been in print in over 65 countries, in magazines such as Linux Magazine, Dr Dobb's Journal, and PHP International Magazine. He's also taught college courses and spoken publicly on topics such as 'MySQL and You' and 'Making Money with Open Source Software.' He lives in New Hampshire and his hobbies include basketball, yo-yos, and sleep.