System for organizing multi-file Ruby programs?

Question

Is there a standard or conventional system for organizing multi-file Ruby programs? I have embarked on my first large "project" in Ruby, a search program which is logically organized into multiple files and directories. I've outlined below my potential structure:

• The main file. This file implements the search class and general searching protocol.
• The algorithmic analysis file. This file implements functions that interpret search results.
• Protocols directory
  • Contains one file per protocol to search.
• Feeds Directory
  • Part of the program's purpose is to search archived news feeds. The files for this feature go in this folder.

However, the code currently has a class (let's call it Searcher) that each protocol's search class inherits from (GoogleSearcher < Searcher). In order to manage this, I need to include the main file in these protocol files (right?) which doesn't seem possible given my ideal structure.

Aside from my specific example, I was wondering if there are any conventions, such as "more files rather than less", or "logical structuring of files is unnecessary". Is it common to have a file of "helper" functions (such as in Rails?) What level of abstraction is considered appropriate?

Finally, I'm planning on integrating this into Rails someday as a library (not a plugin; I want it to work standalone as well). I don't know if this would affect the organization.

I know this is a pretty open-ended question, but that's because I would appreciate any advice that is remotely relevant. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You may want to consider creating a gem for your library. This would make it easy to use the library both stand-alone and with Rails, as well as make deployment/updates simpler.

Further, because gems normally follow a specific directory structure, it also solves your issue of not knowing how to organize the library.

There is plenty of documentation available for creating gems. Here's a bit more info about file structure, as well as other useful tips.

Answer 2

Besides the recommended links in vonconrad's Answer, you can refer to the section “Organizing your source” in Chapter 16 of Programing Ruby 1.9 by Dave Thomas et al. There is a free sample PDF of that part of the book.

The chapter mentions:

16.1 Namespaces We’ve already encountered a way that Ruby helps you manage the names of things in your programs. If you define methods or constants in a class, Ruby ensures that their names can be used only in the context of that class

　　

16.2 Organizing Your Source Small, self-contained scripts can be in a single file... bigger programs should consider the RubyGems system

anagram/ <- top-level
  bin/ <- command-line interface goes here
  lib/ <- three library files go here
  test/ <- test files go here

Answer 3

You might want to take a look at Ideal ruby project structure in conjunction with vonconrad's advice. A gem would definitely be a good place to start and a run through the official rubygems documentation might also be beneficial.

Answer 4

If you want to integrate with Rails, you will probably want to create a plugin.

This guide might be a good place to start: http://guides.rubyonrails.org/plugins.html

Answer 5

I know this question is quite old, but will hopefully be of use to those who come after...

I agree with what's been said above: gems are a great way to organize and reuse code. In addition to the links above, may I recommend using Bundler to create gems as outlined in this Ryan Bates RailsCast: http://railscasts.com/episodes/245-new-gem-with-bundler

I find that Bundler makes gem creation and maintenance very straightforward.

Regarding inheritance, check out how Ruby mixins can be used to encapsulate and reuse code across disparate class hierarchies. http://ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/html/tut_modules.html