Ruby on Rails

10 Ruby Gems for Blockchain Development

Blockchain technology has revolutionized various industries by providing a decentralized and secure way of storing and transferring data. Ruby, known for its simplicity and elegance, offers a variety of gems that can aid in blockchain development. Whether you’re working on smart contracts, cryptocurrency transactions, or integrating blockchain into your applications, these gems can be invaluable. In this blog, we’ll explore 10 essential Ruby gems for blockchain development.

Eth

Eth is a Ruby gem that provides a simple interface for interacting with Ethereum, one of the most popular blockchain platforms. It includes utilities for managing accounts, sending transactions, and working with smart contracts.

Example Usage

Add Eth to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'eth'
```

To send a transaction, you can use:

```ruby
require 'eth'

key = Eth::Key.new(priv: 'your_private_key_here')
client = Eth::Client.create('https://mainnet.infura.io/v3/your_infura_project_id')
tx = Eth::Tx.new({ data: '0x', gas_limit: 21_000, gas_price: 20_000_000_000, value: 1_000_000_000_000_000_000 })
tx.sign(key)
client.eth_send_raw_transaction(tx.hex)
```

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a comprehensive library for the Bitcoin protocol. It provides tools for generating addresses, handling transactions, and interacting with the Bitcoin network.

Example Usage

Add Bitcoin to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'bitcoin-ruby'
```

Create a new Bitcoin address:

```ruby
require 'bitcoin'

key = Bitcoin::Key.generate
puts key.addr
```

Ethereum

Ethereum is another library for interacting with the Ethereum blockchain. It includes tools for creating and sending transactions, querying blockchain data, and more.

Example Usage

Add Ethereum to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'ethereum.rb'
```

Interact with a smart contract:

```ruby
require 'ethereum'

client = Ethereum::HttpClient.new('http://localhost:8545')
abi = 'your_contract_abi_here'
address = 'your_contract_address_here'
contract = Ethereum::Contract.create(client: client, name: 'ContractName', address: address, abi: abi)
puts contract.call.some_method
```

Blockchain

Blockchain is a simple wrapper for the Blockchain.info API. It provides functionalities for accessing blockchain data, including wallet operations and transaction history.

Example Usage

Add Blockchain to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'blockchain'
```

Fetch Bitcoin address balance:

```ruby
require 'blockchain'

address = 'your_bitcoin_address_here'
balance = Blockchain::Wallet.new.get_address_balance(address)
puts balance
```

Web3

Web3 is a Ruby implementation of the Ethereum Web3.js library. It allows you to interact with Ethereum nodes using RPC and IPC connections.

Example Usage

Add Web3 to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'web3'
```

Connect to an Ethereum node:

```ruby
require 'web3'

client = Web3::Client.new('http://localhost:8545')
puts client.eth_block_number
```

Bitcoin::Protocol

Bitcoin::Protocol is a low-level implementation of the Bitcoin protocol. It allows you to work directly with Bitcoin’s data structures and network protocol.

Example Usage

Add Bitcoin::Protocol to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'bitcoin-protocol'
```

Parse a Bitcoin block:

```ruby
require 'bitcoin/protocol'

block_data = 'your_block_data_here'
block = Bitcoin::Protocol::Block.new(block_data)
puts block.to_json
```

Crypto

Crypto is a cryptographic library that supports various encryption algorithms. It is useful for handling cryptographic operations in blockchain applications.

Example Usage

Add Crypto to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'crypto'
```

Generate a hash using SHA-256:

```ruby
require 'crypto'

data = 'your_data_here'
hash = Crypto.sha256(data)
puts hash
```

RubyCoin

RubyCoin is a library for building cryptocurrency applications. It includes tools for generating keys, creating transactions, and more.

Example Usage

Add RubyCoin to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'rubycoin'
```

Generate a new private key:

```ruby
require 'rubycoin'

key = RubyCoin::Key.generate
puts key.to_wif
```

Eth::Light

Eth::Light is a lightweight library for Ethereum. It is designed for simplicity and ease of use, providing basic functionalities for interacting with the Ethereum network.

Example Usage

Add Eth::Light to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'eth-light'
```

Send Ether:

```ruby
require 'eth/light'

client = Eth::Light::Client.new('http://localhost:8545')
client.send_ether(from: 'your_address', to: 'recipient_address', value: 1_000_000_000_000_000)
```

RbNaCl

RbNaCl is a Ruby binding for the NaCl (Networking and Cryptography Library) cryptographic library. It provides a simple API for cryptographic operations, essential for secure blockchain applications.

Example Usage

Add RbNaCl to your Gemfile:

```ruby
gem 'rbnacl'
```

Encrypt a message:

```ruby
require 'rbnacl'

key = RbNaCl::Random.random_bytes(RbNaCl::SecretBox.key_bytes)
box = RbNaCl::SecretBox.new(key)
nonce = RbNaCl::Random.random_bytes(box.nonce_bytes)
ciphertext = box.encrypt(nonce, 'your_message_here')
puts ciphertext
```

Conclusion

Ruby offers a rich ecosystem of gems for blockchain development, enabling developers to build, interact with, and integrate blockchain technologies into their applications. Whether you’re creating a new cryptocurrency, building a decentralized application (DApp), or working with existing blockchain networks, these gems provide powerful tools to help you succeed.