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RubyGems VS npm

Compare RubyGems VS npm and see what are their differences

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RubyGems logo RubyGems

RubyGems. org is the Ruby community's gem hosting service. Instantly publish your gems and then install them. Use the API find out more about available gems. Become a contributor and improve the site yourself.

npm logo npm

npm is a package manager for Node.
  • RubyGems Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03
  • npm Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03

RubyGems features and specs

  • Comprehensive Library
    RubyGems hosts a vast collection of libraries and gems, making it simple to find reusable code for a wide range of tasks.
  • Dependency Management
    RubyGems manages dependencies between various gems efficiently, ensuring that the right versions of gems are used together.
  • Ease of Use
    The command-line interface provided by RubyGems is very user-friendly, making it easy for developers to install, update, and remove gems.
  • Community Support
    A large and active community contributes to RubyGems, offering extensive support, documentation, and regular updates.
  • Version Control
    RubyGems allows users to specify particular gem versions, which helps maintain code stability and compatibility.

Possible disadvantages of RubyGems

  • Security Concerns
    As with any open-source repository, there is a risk of malicious gems being uploaded, which could compromise the security of projects.
  • Dependency Hell
    Sometimes, resolving complex dependencies can become difficult, leading to conflicts and potential 'dependency hell' situations.
  • Performance Issues
    Certain gems may have performance inefficiencies, which can affect the overall performance of the application using them.
  • Quality Variability
    The quality of gems can vary widely, as they are maintained by different individuals with varying levels of expertise.
  • Learning Curve
    New developers may face a learning curve in understanding how to effectively use RubyGems and manage dependencies within their projects.

npm features and specs

  • Large Ecosystem
    npm boasts an extensive library of packages, making it easier for developers to find existing solutions for a wide array of tasks.
  • Active Community
    A vibrant and active community ensures continuous updates, support, and improvements for various packages.
  • Integration with Node.js
    Seamless integration with Node.js, which makes it the default package manager for Node.js projects.
  • Version Control
    Provides robust version control, enabling developers to specify and manage dependencies precisely.
  • Scripts
    Allows automation of tasks through custom scripts defined in the package.json file, enhancing development workflow.

Possible disadvantages of npm

  • Security Issues
    The open nature can potentially lead to dependency on unvetted or insecure packages, posing security risks.
  • Deprecation and Abandonment
    Packages may be deprecated or abandoned by their maintainers, which can disrupt projects that depend on them.
  • Complex Dependency Management
    Managing complex dependencies and resolving conflicts between them can sometimes be challenging and time-consuming.
  • Performance Overhead
    The sheer size of the node_modules directory can lead to performance overhead and large project sizes.
  • Quality Variability
    The quality of packages on npm can vary widely, with some lacking sufficient documentation or tests.

Analysis of RubyGems

Overall verdict

  • RubyGems is well-regarded within the Ruby community for its ease of use, comprehensive library of gems, and robust dependency management features. It is considered an essential tool for Ruby developers.

Why this product is good

  • RubyGems is the default package manager for Ruby, which allows developers to easily distribute, share, and manage Ruby libraries or 'gems'. It simplifies the installation of libraries and dependency management, streamlining the development process for Ruby applications.

Recommended for

    Ruby developers of all levels, especially those who wish to efficiently manage and incorporate external libraries into their projects. It is also beneficial for teams working collaboratively on Ruby projects, as it helps maintain consistency across development environments.

Analysis of npm

Overall verdict

  • npm is generally considered good, especially for developers working within the Node.js ecosystem. It simplifies package management, supports extensive version control, and fosters a collaborative environment through its community-driven platform.

Why this product is good

  • npm (Node Package Manager) is a crucial tool for JavaScript developers. It allows for easy installation, management, and sharing of packages, which can significantly accelerate development time. With a vast repository of open-source libraries, npm provides solutions for countless tasks, reducing the need to build everything from scratch.

Recommended for

  • JavaScript developers
  • Node.js developers
  • Front-end developers using modern JavaScript frameworks
  • Back-end developers building scalable applications

RubyGems videos

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npm videos

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Artis bus NPM Mr marcha sopir ny ramah,Review detail bus baru yang berangkat dari Payakumbuh~Jakarta

More videos:

  • Review - Review bus baru NPM,, V15 Mr marcha ft kru kece,, berangkat Payakumbuh menuju Jakarta
  • Review - Analysis of an Exploited NPM Package || Jarrod Overson

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RubyGems and npm)

RubyGems

npm

Front End Package Manager
36 36%
Front End Package Manager
64% 64
Software Development
100 100%
Software Development
0% 0
JS Build Tools
0 0%
JS Build Tools
100% 100
Code Collaboration
100 100%
Code Collaboration
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare RubyGems and npm

RubyGems Reviews

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npm Reviews

Repository Management Tools
There are three components to npm, they are the website, registry and the cli. The npm website is the place where developers discover packages, set up their profiles and also manage the other aspects of npm. The npm registry is the huge database that contains all the dependencies and stuff whereas the npm cli is the one that is used by most of the developers to interact with...
Source: mindmajix.com
What is Artifactory?
All packages are organized so that you can keep track of all of the dependencies and their various versions. The registry, website, and command-line interface, or CLI, are the three components of npm. The npm website is where developers can find packages, create profiles, and manage other elements of the npm project. The npm registry is an extensive database that holds all...
Source: blog.packagecloud.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, RubyGems should be more popular than npm. It has been mentiond 102 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

RubyGems mentions (102)

  • Developing Modules for Puppet and the Forge in 2025
    Puppet Facter (available from rubygems.org). - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Joy of Test Driven Development(TDD) using Rspec in Ruby
    Create Gemfile file inside the directory and add only one line: https://rubygems.org. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Go Tool: tudo o que ninguem pediu
    # copied from https://github.com/sidekiq/sidekiq/blob/main/Gemfile Source "https://rubygems.org" Gemspec Gem "rake" RAILS_VERSION = "~> 8.0" Gem "actionmailer", RAILS_VERSION Gem "actionpack", RAILS_VERSION Gem "activejob", RAILS_VERSION Gem "activerecord", RAILS_VERSION Gem "railties", RAILS_VERSION Gem "redis-client" # gem "bumbler" # gem "debug" Gem "sqlite3", "~> 2.2", platforms: :ruby Gem... - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Some tips for making a ruby gem
    All the things we've done for a gem are to release it on https://rubygems.org/. To release the gem, you need an account on https://rubygems.org/ first. So, sign up for one if you haven't done that yet. Then execute rake build to build a gem file under pkg, it should look like pkg/your_gem-0.0.1.gem. The version number 0.0.1 is defined in the lib/your_gem/version.rb. Finally, we call. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • New Release: turkish_id v1.7.0
    To install this gem onto your local machine, run bundle exec rake install. To release a new version, update the version number in version.rb, and then run bundle exec rake release, which will create a git tag for the version, push git commits and tags, and push the .gem file to rubygems.org. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
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npm mentions (68)

  • Some thoughts on personal Git hosting
    > But we still don't have a solution to search projects on potentially thousands of servers, including self-hosted ones. We do. https://mvnrepository.com/repos/central https://npmjs.com https://packagist.org/ https://pypi.org/ https://www.debian.org/distrib/packages#search_packages https://pkg.go.dev/ https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/ And many others. And we still have forums like this one and Reddit where... - Source: Hacker News / 27 days ago
  • Protecting Yourself from Spear Phishing Attacks Such as the One Targeting NPM Maintainers with 2FA Update
    A rather official looking message was sent to maintainers of packages hosted on npmjs.com that they were overdue for a two-factor update. - Source: dev.to / 26 days ago
  • Maintainers of ESLint Prettier Plugin Attacked via npm Supply Chain Malware
    Publishing packages to the official npmjs.com registry requires an account with a valid e-mail address. When npm packages are published, this information is openly and widely available to anyone to review. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • How to Publish Your First NPM Package: A Complete Guide
    Check on NPM website: Visit https://npmjs.com/package/your-package-name. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • A Gentle Introduction to WebAssembly in Rust (2025 Edition)
    If your WASM code is self contained in Rust, you can build it in production mode and publish it on npmjs.com right now. The wasm-pack tool creates all the TypeScript types, package.json skeleton and anything else needed for a complete package. It is recommended that you review and update your package.json file prior to publishing. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing RubyGems and npm, you can also consider the following products

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

Ender - Frontend Development

Bower - Bower is a package manager for the web.

Yarn - Yarn is a package manager for your code.

Turbolinks - Turbolinks makes navigating your web application faster

Webpack - Webpack is a module bundler. Its main purpose is to bundle JavaScript files for usage in a browser, yet it is also capable of transforming, bundling, or packaging just about any resource or asset.

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