In the world of software development, Ruby gems are essential libraries or packages that extend the functionality of Ruby applications. The gem install command is used to install these gems. This article will guide you on how to install Ruby gems on macOS, an environment that is widely used by developers for its Unix-based system and powerful development tools.

Installing Ruby gems on macOS is straightforward, but there are a few prerequisites and steps you need to follow to ensure a smooth installation process. This article will cover these steps, including installing Ruby itself if it's not already installed on your system.

Examples:

1. Check if Ruby is Installed: Before installing any Ruby gems, you need to ensure that Ruby is installed on your macOS. Open the Terminal and type the following command:

   ruby -v

   This command will display the version of Ruby installed on your system. If Ruby is not installed, you will need to install it first.

2. Install Homebrew (if necessary): Homebrew is a package manager for macOS that simplifies the installation of software. If you don't have Homebrew installed, you can install it by running:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Install Ruby Using Homebrew: If you need to install Ruby, you can use Homebrew to do so:

   brew install ruby

   After installation, you may need to add the Ruby path to your shell configuration file (e.g., .zshrc or .bash_profile):

   echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
   source ~/.zshrc

4. Install Ruby Gems: With Ruby installed, you can now install Ruby gems using the gem install command. For example, to install the Rails gem, you would run:

   gem install rails

   This command will download and install the Rails gem and its dependencies.

5. Verify Gem Installation: To verify that a gem has been installed, you can list all installed gems using:

   gem list

   This command will display a list of all gems installed on your system.