Appendix A. Installing Sass and Compass
Both Sass and Compass are command-line tools built on top of the Ruby programming language. To use them you’ll need to have Ruby installed as well as a basic understanding of your computer’s command line. Sass and Compass can be installed on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Windows doesn’t come with Ruby, so unless you have previously installed it, you’ll need to do so now. It only takes a few minutes.
On Windows 7, you can launch the command prompt from the Windows start menu by selecting All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. Alternately, you can type command into the search box and then select Command Prompt from the results.
On earlier versions of Windows, you can launch the command prompt by selecting All Properties > Accessories > Command Prompt. Alternatively, you can select Run and then enter cmd and press Return.
When the command prompt is running, you should see a window like figure A.1.
From the command prompt, type ruby -v and then press Return. If Ruby isn’t installed, the command prompt will tell you 'ruby' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. If Ruby is installed, it’ll print out the version of Ruby you have installed. The version should be greater than or equal to 1.8.7 (if 1.8.6 or below, please install Ruby with the following instructions).