Methadone is the ultimate command-line library for Ruby apps. All the power of OptionParser, none of the verbosity, with a smattering of tools to help you write amazing apps right from the get-go. In seconds, you have a fully functioning skeleton of an app, with integration and unit test coverage, documentation, and in-line help. I created most of it while writing [my book][clibook], and have been feverishly polishing it since the book came out.

Today is its first official release at 1.0. Woot!

I’ve also released a tutorial as an “enhanced” iBook, available now from the iBookstore as a free download. This isn’t just a big ream of code and text, but a step-by-step walkthrough, with screencasts, on how to use Methadone, along with some detailed discussion on some of Methadone’s more useful features. It’s all presented beautifully as a “textbook”-style iBook that looks great on an iPad 1 and stunning on the new iPad, thanks to iBooks Author and the retina display.

Read the tutorial, read the RDoc, install the library, and feel free to submit patches.