Design points

• Create an intuitive method of defining rules and automation
  • Rule language should “flow” in a way that you can read the rules out loud
• Abstract away complexities of OpenHAB (Timers, Item.state vs Item)
• Enable all the power of Ruby and OpenHAB
• Create a Frictionless experience for building automation
• The common, yet tricky tasks are abstracted and made easy. e.g. Running a rule between only certain hours of the day
• Tested
  • Designed and tested using Behavior Driven Development with Cucumber
  • Current tests are here Reviewing them is a great way to explore the language features
• Extensible
  • Anyone should be able to customize and add/remove core language features
• Easy access to the Ruby ecosystem in rules through ruby gems.

Why Ruby?

• Ruby is designed for programmer productivity with the idea that programming should be fun for programmers.
• Ruby emphasizes the necessity for software to be understood by humans first and computers second.
• For me, automation is a hobby, I want to enjoy writing automation not fight compilers and interpreters
• Rich ecosystem of tools, including things like Rubocop to help developers create good code and cucumber to test the libraries
• Ruby is really good at letting one express intent and creating a DSL within ruby to make that expression easier.