== DESCRIPTION: Need makes ruby relative requires just work. Simply need a file with a relative path and the file will always be required correctly, regardless of what file your application is being launched through. Typically, ruby projects would unshift lib onto $PATH or use the File.dirname(__FILE__) trick. Using need means you don't have to worry about either of these. Assume you have two files, one directly in lib and the other in lib/extensions. Let's assume that file_a in lib requires file_b, in lib/extensions. Previously, you would doing some crazy load path unshifting or use the __FILE__ trick to make these requires flexible enough to work when your app is being accessed by rake, through a test suite, or required as a gem. Now, just use need. In file_a: need{"extensions/file_b"} need "extensions/file_b"