[ANN] MagickWand for Ruby 0.1.0

ruby-talk
1

I've just uploaded the first beta release of MagickWand for Ruby, my new
binding to ImageMagick. MagickWand for Ruby is a complete rethinking of
RMagick. I call it "RMagick rebooted."

MagickWand for Ruby objects are managed by Ruby just like any other
object. There is no need for your scripts run GC or call a special
method to destroy them.

This release is the first beta so there's only 50 or so methods in the
Wand class. I'm planning to add a Pixel class for pixel access and a
Drawing class for 2D drawings but there's nothing there yet.

MagickWand for Ruby requires a _very_ recent release of ImageMagick,
6.5.0 or later.

If you're familar with RMagick probably you've got some questions.

1. Is it easier to install than RMagick? No, it's exactly the same. You
have to install ImageMagick and its delegate libraries just like you do
for RMagick. The MagickWand for Ruby gem does not install any
documentation, though, so it installs faster than RMagick.

2. Given that we've already got RMagick and MiniMagick, do we really
need another binding to ImageMagick? I like to think that MagickWand is
to RMagick what Heath Ledger's Joker is to Jack Nicholson's Joker.

3. Is this the end of RMagick? Absolutely not. I've supported RMagick
for over 6 years. I don't plan on stopping bug fixes or enhancements. In
fact, now that MagickWand is released my next task is a new release of
RMagick.

Everything there is to know about MagickWand for Ruby is at
http://magickwand.rubyforge.org.

Report bugs, ask questions, whatever, at the usual locations on
RubyForge [http://rubyforge.org/projects/magickwand/]. If you do try it
out, you'd be doing me a great favor by dropping me a line to say so.

Credits: Thanks to Luis Lavena for rake-compiler, and Thomas Leitner for
webgen.

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MagickWand for Ruby - http://magickwand.rubyforge.org/

2

Why was MagickWand created?

I mean quite obviously you must think that MagickWand will be better
than the older RMagick interface, I am just curious what has motivated
you. I looked at the website but I did not find this information. :slight_smile:

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Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

3

Marc Heiler wrote:

Why was MagickWand created?

I mean quite obviously you must think that MagickWand will be better than the older RMagick interface, I am just curious what has motivated you. I looked at the website but I did not find this information. :slight_smile:

Well, I didn't think that my "motivation" would make any difference to people who are checking out MagickWand for Ruby. But since you asked...Who doesn't want a do-over? ImageMagick development is in a lull and that gives me time to work on a new project. I can't change the things I don't like about RMagick because that would break existing code, so I'm taking the opportunity to write an entirely new library.

Compare MagickWand for Ruby to RMagick. The things that are different in MagickWand are the things I don't like about RMagick. The things that are the same are the things I do like.

Also there are some differences that affect only me. I think the code for MagickWand for Ruby will be easier to maintain. The RMagick doc, which I maintain by hand, is a pain to keep up, so the MagickWand for Ruby doc is automatically generated by webgen.

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MagickWand for Ruby - http://magickwand.rubyforge.org/