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RubyConf AU 2014: http://www.rubyconf.org.au We take for granted the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that goes into each library we use within our programs. Many of the them we use today are built on top of libraries that have existed much longer than most of us have been programming in Ruby. Allow me to guide you through some of these unusual and mysterious libraries that are made available in every Ruby installation. I'm talking about the standard library, which has largely been apart of the Ruby ecosystem since before gems were available. There's around ~70MB of code in every installation, and it's just waiting for those eager to explore and discover what the pioneers of Ruby have provided for us.
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In the talk titled "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" presented by Zachary Scott at RubyConf AU 2014, the speaker explores the significance of the Ruby standard library and its historical context. He emphasizes the wealth of knowledge encapsulated in the libraries used in Ruby development, which have been foundational since before the advent of RubyGems. ### Key Points Discussed: - **Historical Context of Ruby**: Zach discusses how Ruby libraries evolved over time, mentioning pivotal contributions like setup.rb by Minoru Aoki-san, which simplified library installation and distribution. - **Ruby Standard Library**: The standard library, which comprises around 70MB of code released with Ruby installations, aims to alleviate the once daunting task of finding and verifying libraries. He highlights its crucial role in modern Ruby development. - **Libraries Highlighted**: Three specific libraries from the standard library are showcased: - **DRb (Distributed Ruby)**: Introduced for easy distribution of code and commands over a network. Zach demonstrates how to develop a simple chat server using DRb, illustrating its ability to handle user connections and message distribution with concise code. - **RDoc**: A tool for generating documentation in Ruby, which now supports Markdown. The simplicity of parsing Markdown into HTML using RDoc is demonstrated, highlighting its utility in making documentation user-friendly. - **Fiddle**: A library that allows interaction with code written in other languages. Zach explains how Fiddle enables seamless communication between Ruby and other languages like Dylan, showcasing how simple it is to create and wrap functions for cross-language interactions. - **Community and Evolution**: Zach reflects on the Ruby community's growth and the impact of tools like Bundler on developers' productivity, emphasizing the potential for any Rubyist to contribute to the ecosystem. ### Conclusions and Takeaways: - The evolution of libraries in Ruby has significantly improved development efficiency and accessibility. - Understanding and utilizing the standard library is vital for Ruby developers to leverage the foundational tools available to them. - The ongoing evolution of these libraries points to an inspiring future for Ruby, driven by community contributions and innovations.
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