# Ruby Hacking Guide

This document gives  some helpful instructions which  should make your
experience as a Ruby core developer easier.

## Setup

### Make

It's common to want to compile things as quickly as possible. Ensuring
`make`  has the  right `--jobs`  flag will  ensure all  processors are
utilized when building  software projects To do  this effectively, you
can set `MAKEFLAGS` in your shell configuration/profile:

``` shell
# On macOS with Fish shell:
export MAKEFLAGS="--jobs "(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

# On macOS with Bash/ZSH shell:
export MAKEFLAGS="--jobs $(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)"

# On Linux with Fish shell:
export MAKEFLAGS="--jobs "(nproc)

# On Linux with Bash/ZSH shell:
export MAKEFLAGS="--jobs $(nproc)"
```

## Configure Ruby

It's generally advisable to use a build directory.

``` shell
./autogen.sh
mkdir build
cd build
../configure --prefix $HOME/.rubies/ruby-head
make install
```

### Without Documentation

If you  are frequently  building Ruby,  this will  reduce the  time it
takes to `make install`.

``` shell
../configure --disable-install-doc
```

## Running Ruby

### Run Local Test Script

You can create  a file in the Ruby source  root called `test.rb`.  You
can build `miniruby` and execute this script:

``` shell
make run
```

If  you want  more  of the  standard library,  you  can use  `runruby`
instead of `run`.

## Running Tests

You can run the following tests at once:

``` shell
make check
```

### Run Bootstrap Tests

There are  a set of tests  in `bootstraptest/` which cover  most basic
features of the core Ruby language.

``` shell
make test
```

### Run Extensive Tests

There  are extensive  tests in  `test/` which  cover a  wide range  of
features of the Ruby core language.

``` shell
make test-all
```

You can run specific tests by specifying their path:

``` shell
make test-all TESTS=../test/fiber/test_io.rb
```

### Run RubySpec Tests

RubySpec is  a project to  write a complete,  executable specification
for the Ruby programming language.

``` shell
make test-spec
```