Question

I want to build scripts that automatize things for me.

Here is an example of what I want to do:

• Create new rails app (rails new application_name –database=mysql)
• Jump to folder
• Initialize git (git init; git add .; git commit -m “first commit”; git remote add name address; git push name master)
• Create heroku project (heroku create; git push heroku master)
• Etc…

I’ve got a lot of such scripts (not just rails related) I want to build.

Should these kind of steps be coded with Rake or Gem?

From what I have understood rake is usually getting the tasks from the current folder’s Rakefile. If i want to make operations universal, is it better to create a gem?

The thing is that I want to be able to call it from whatever directory I’m in.

What are the pros and cons with each?

Answer 1

Going with rake or a gem is fine. If you want to centralize your rake tasks (assuming you are on OSX or Some Linux/*nix variant) you can create them in your home directory:

~/.rake/*.rake

Rake will look there for tasks to run if in a directory w/ no Rakefile.

Also, consider (again, if you are on some sort of *nix platform) just creating shell aliases to your commands.

Edit:

Another consideration specific to your Rails work is to leverage Application Templates. Here is a link to a good screencast.