Gear inches is the old measure, and still the easiest to compare across bikes. Development is how many metres one turn of the cranks moves you, which is what your legs actually feel. Gain ratio divides the wheel radius by the crank length: below about 2.0 a gear is easy enough to climb almost anything on, above 4.0 it is a big gear for fast flat riding.
Two gears within about 3% of each other are effectively the same gear — you shift between them and nothing happens. Most double chainring setups have several of these, and knowing which ones means you stop hunting for a gear that does not exist.