From: Uwe Kubosch <uwe@...>
Date: 2006-04-19T22:44:29+09:00
Subject: Organizing Ruby code

Hi all!

I have now completed two web projects using Ruby On Rails in The Real
World and I am very happy about it.  Woohoo to me!

In RoR all the components have been assigned a location in the project
tree and I find this very helpful.

I am looking for conventions for how to organize business logic that
does not fit easily into the model-view-controller categories.

I guess this is code that goes into the "lib" directory, and it should
be organized like any Ruby code.  The problem is, I have not found any
conventions for how to organize regular Ruby code.

In Java I am forced to have one class per file, the file must be called
the same as the class, and the file should be placed in a directory with
the same name as the package of the class.  These limitations are of
enormous help since it makes finding everything very easy.

Is there something similar for Ruby code?  Should I use modules where I
use packages in Java?  Is there a relationship between module names and
file location?  How many classes per file?  How many modules per file?

Any tips on how to organize Ruby code is appreciated.  I am looking for
a common convention, so that if I follow it, the next Ruby programmer
that comes into the project immediately knows where to find all the
components.

Recommendations for books and websites are always welcome, and so are
any other good sources for information.  On the Ruby/Rails topic I have
read the Pickaxe book, Ruby in a Nutshell, and Agile Programming In Ruby
On Rails.

Any comments on this are appreciated.


Uwe Kubosch