This page gives an overview of what Ruby gems are and how to use them.
Introduction
A Ruby "gem" is a packaged library. Each gem has a specification, which includes the following information about the gem:
- Name
- Version
- Platform
- Dependencies
- Description
The library/utility that manages these gems is named "Rubygems". Rubygems has a command line interface: 'gem'. Rubygems is the de facto standard for libraries in ruby, and is installed as part of the windows one-click installer. It is also scheduled to be part of the standard library on all platforms in Ruby 2.0.