RDoc vs YARD
RDoc
ruby.github.ioYARD
yardoc.orgSide by side
| Figure | RDoc | YARD |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Documentation Generators | 8.1 (#8) | 7.1 (#29) |
| License | RDoc is free software and may be redistributed under the terms in its license file. | The site states that YARD uses the MIT License. |
| Purpose | RDoc produces HTML and command-line documentation for Ruby projects, with `rdoc` and `ri` tools to generate and display it. | YARD generates consistent, usable documentation for the Ruby programming language and can export it to different formats. |
| Support | The project directs users to CONTRIBUTING.md for filing bug reports. | The site lists an IRC channel, a mailing list, and GitHub as ways to get in touch. |
Plans
In their own words
RDoc
RDoc is free software for producing Ruby project documentation as HTML pages and command-line reference output. The `rdoc` command generates documentation, while `ri` displays it. It processes Ruby, C, and RBS source files, plus RDoc markup, Markdown, RD, and TomDoc documents. RBS declarations can describe classes, modules, methods, attributes, and constants, and can add comments or type signatures to matching Ruby source documentation. A local preview server watches source files and refreshes the browser after changes. It uses Ruby’s built-in TCPServer and needs no external gems, but provides neither HTTPS nor HTTP/2 and is intended only for local previews. RDoc reports documentation coverage with `rdoc -C`, or includes parameter names with `rdoc -C1`. Generation can be automated through Rake or the RDoc API. Aliki is the default theme; Darkfish is deprecated. Ruby 3.2.0 or newer is required for the current gem.