Ruby: How to run irb immediately after running ruby file externally?

Question

Is there a way to load a ruby file from terminal, but continue coding dynamically after?

Example:

$ ruby some_file.rb

# ... code from source file ...

and continue coding from here through terminal (in the same fashion as irb)?

Answer 1

The -r flag will require a file when starting IRB:

irb -r /path/to/file

Example:

~$ echo "def hello; puts 'Hello, world!'; end" > hello.rb
~$ irb -r ./hello
001> hello
Hello, world!

See man irb :

-r library     Same as `ruby -r'.  Causes irb to load the library using require.

Answer 2

Run irb, and load the file from within irb.

irb> load "some_file.rb"

If you want to do that everytime, then write it in a file named .irbrc .

.irbrc

load "some_file.rb"