I recently browsed through the ActiveSupport code and found some nice stuff I did not know about:
- 
  ActiveSupport::CallbacksShow archive.org snapshot
- 
ActiveRecord-like callbacks, if you need callbacks in non ActiveRecord objects 
- 
  ActiveSupport::MessageEncryptorShow archive.org snapshot
- 
encrypt and decrypt ruby objects 
- 
  ActiveSupport::MessageVerifierShow archive.org snapshot
- 
sign and verify ruby objects 
- 
  ActiveSupport::OrderedOptionsShow archive.org snapshot
- 
like an ordered hash, but the keys can also be accessed like methods 
h = ActiveSupport::OrderedOptions.new
h['foo'] = 'bar'
h.foo = 'bar'  # same thing
h['foo']       # => 'bar'
h.foo          # => 'bar'
- 
  in?Show archive.org snapshot (> 3.0 only)
- 
reverse of Array#include?
characters = ["Konata", "Kagami", "Tsukasa"]
"Konata".in?(characters)  # => true
- 
  Array.wrapShow archive.org snapshot
- 
wraps argument in an array, unless it is array-like already. The behaviour is a bit saner than Array[...].
Array.wrap(nil)           # => []
Array.wrap([1,2,3])       # => [1,2,3]
Array.wrap(1)             # => [1]
Array.wrap("foo \n bar")  # => ["foo \n bar"]
- 
  Class.class_attributesShow archive.org snapshot (> 3.0 only)
- 
inheritable class attributes. Subclasses inherit from their parents, but cannot override their values 
class Base
  class_attribute :setting
end
	
class Subclass < Base
end
	
Base.setting = true
Subclass.setting            # => true
Subclass.setting = false
Subclass.setting            # => false
Base.setting                # => true
- 
  Float#roundShow archive.org snapshot
- 
round to a given number of decimals 
1.2345.round(2)  # => 1.23
1.2345.round(3)  # => 1.235
- 
  Hash#deep_merge(!)Show archive.org snapshot
- 
merge hashes recursively 
- 
  String#squish(!)Show archive.org snapshot
- 
removes leading and trailing whitespace, and converts all internal whitespace to single spaces 
%{ Multi-line
   string }.squish                    # => "Multi-line string"
" foo   bar    \n   \t   boo".squish  # => "foo bar boo"
- 
  Time.current,Date.current,DateTime.currentShow archive.org snapshot
- 
behaves like .nowor.zone.nowdepending on whether a time zone is set