Hi Everyone,

I started on a series to learn by reversing a simple native C Ruby gem. Part 5 is now published! This does a deep dive on understanding how to use the Ruby C API from a C file. It shows how the Ruby C API works & how it accesses Ruby data, raises exceptions, checks function arguments and so on.

Link to Part 5: https://notepad.onghu.com/2023/learning-by-reversing-s1-e5-native-gems/

The first 4 parts are also online on my blog:
* Part 1 - This covers the background to the gem we explore
  Link: https://notepad.onghu.com/2023/learning-by-reversing-s1-e1-native-gems/
* Part 2 - This goes into the details of how ruby loads the native gem and extension (and includes a nice sequence diagram of how all the bits happen together)
  Link: https://notepad.onghu.com/2023/learning-by-reversing-s1-e2-native-gems/
* Part 3 - How do we ensure that we have everything and that it actually gets built at installation?
  Link: https://notepad.onghu.com/2023/learning-by-reversing-s1-e3-native-gems/
* Part 4 - Understanding the development Makefil
  Link: https://notepad.onghu.com/2023/learning-by-reversing-s1-e4-native-gems/


Future posts are planned to go into details like:
* Documenting the code
* Running the specs and the performance benchmark
* Enhancements:
  - Providing an executable
  - A gem that also works on JRuby
  - Making the gem ractor friendly
  - Patching an existing gem rather than a new module

Comments on the posts or the plans welcome. I'm @onghu on Twitter or @onghu@ruby.social on Mastodon if you're on either.

Best regards,
Mohit.