Validating a Native Ruby Gem on Ruby 4.0.1
February 5, 2026
Notes from the ruby-libgd 0.2.4 release
With the release of Ruby 4.0, native extensions deserve a bit more attention than usual. Unlike pure-Ruby gems, C extensions depend not only on Ruby’s public API, but also on how headers, build tools, and packaging are wired together.
For the ruby-libgd 0.2.4 release, I wanted to explicitly validate compatibility with Ruby 4.0.1 before claiming support. This article documents what that process actually looked like, the issues encountered, and how they were resolved — without patching Ruby or adding hacks to the gem itself.
Context
ruby-libgd is a native C extension that provides Ruby bindings for the GD Graphics Library. It compiles a shared object via extconf.rb and links against libgd.
Because Ruby 4 introduces changes in packaging and standard library layout, I chose to validate compatibility using Docker + CI , starting from a clean environment.
The goal was simple and strict:
- The extension must compile on Ruby 4.0.1
- The test suite must pass
- The runtime must load correctly (require “gd/gd”)
- Any workaround must be documented, not hidden
👉 Read the full article.
https://rubystacknews.com/2026/02/05/validating-a-native-ruby-gem-on-ruby-4-0-1/
Top comments (0)