.rb File — Ruby Source Code

Ruby is a dynamic, interpreted programming language created by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto in 1995, designed with an emphasis on programmer happiness and productivity. RB files contain source code in a language known for its elegant, readable syntax where everything is an object — including numbers, strings, and even nil. Ruby gained massive popularity through Ruby on Rails, a web application framework that introduced conventions like MVC architecture, RESTful design, and "convention over configuration" that influenced web development across all languages. The language features dynamic typing, duck typing, blocks and closures, mixins through modules, metaprogramming capabilities, garbage collection, and a comprehensive standard library. Ruby's ecosystem includes RubyGems for package management with over 170,000 gems, Bundler for dependency resolution, and robust testing frameworks (RSpec, Minitest). Ruby is used for web development (Rails, Sinatra), DevOps automation (Chef, Puppet, Vagrant), scripting, and prototyping. Modern Ruby (3.0+) has added features including Ractor for parallel execution, fiber scheduler for async I/O, and RBS type signatures.