Build a Plugin or Gem?

Question

Typically I create a plugin when I have a module that I know I'm going to need over again in my other projects, however, they could also be packaged as gems.

When should I be building a gem over creating a plugin? Is there any criteria for making the call?

Answer 1

Plugins are becoming obsolete now that you can manage gems via the "config.gem" statement in environment.rb. Gems are available system-wide (not just in one app), and are versioned unlike plugins.

I've converted all of my plugins to gems recently. Easy to do and well worth it.

Answer 2

Rails seems to be moving towards the gem direction. I have converted most of my plugins to gems now. Gems are easier to manage and fit better in the Ruby eco-system. Why do we need two separate systems anyway?

There is still a problem with gems however: it is not possible to add rake tasks to a Rails application from a gem. Probably the same holds for generators, although I'm not sure. If you use these in your plugin, migrating to a gem is not yet possible. Hopefully this gets fixed soon.