There's a whole world of language features that we sometimes miss out on as Rubyists, such as pattern matching, S-expressions, and external domain-specific languages. But the good news is that we can have them, too, as long as we're not afraid to steal a few things first.

Broadly speaking, there are two ways to create a DSL. One is to invent a syntax from scratch, and build an interpreter or compiler. The other is to tailor an existing general-purpose language by adding or changing methods, operators, and default actions. This article explores using the latter method to build a DSL on top of Ruby.

A belated welcome to Ruby Code & Style

Any reasonably complex end-user application is going to require some sort of customization and enhancement for effective deployment. This article shows one way to create a modular architecture as a way of leaving the door open for advanced users or consultants who want to extend the functionality without modifying the source.

In this article, Austin Ziegler introduces the creation of a variety of types of documents with PDF::Writer for Ruby. This introduction covers basic creation, partial document generation and customization, and Rails-generated documents.

Ruby Queue software package lowers the barriers scientists need to overcome in order to realize the power of Linux clusters. It provides an extremely simple, economic, and easy-to-understand tool that harnesses the power of many CPUs while simultaneously allowing researchers to shift their focus away from the mundane details of complicated distributed computing systems and back to the task of actually doing science. The tool set is designed with a K.I.S.S, research-focused, philosophy that enables any ordinary (non-root) user to set up a zero-admin Linux cluster in 10 minutes or less. It is currently being used successfully in such diverse fields as bio-chemical research at the University of Toronto, geo-mechanical modeling at IGEOSS, and studying the nighttime lights of the world at the National Geophysical Data Center.