Expect libraries to break when using a different version of the language

This is part of the Semicolon&Sons Code Diary - consisting of lessons learned on the job. You're in the dependencies category.

Last Updated: 2024-03-28

I had cleaned out all my installs of Ruby on the machine except the one I was using for my actively maintained codebases.

One day I needed to boot up a legacy project (only to inspect something - not to bring it up to date) and I naively tried to get it working with a newer Ruby version than it was originally built with. I flailed about for a half-hour fighting dependency hell before realizing that it would have been far easier to just let it use its original Ruby version.

Lesson

Expect language upgrades to break libraries