neodymium magents can generate a magnetic field,it's a magnetic dipole, magnets can attract a  magnetic substance such as iron, nickel, cobalt and other metal.How to distinguish the north pole or south pole of a magnet? It's very easy to know that. You can use a string to hang up a magnet, the side points the earth is south pole, the opposite side is north pole. 
      Magnet can attract each other also can  mutually exclusive,If the small molecules of an object can be arranged in the same direction, it becomes a magnet. the ingredients of a magnet are iron, cobalt, nickel and other special atom structure, atom has magnetic moment itself, generally these magnetic moment arranges disordered. It  will not show magnetism because the magnetic region  influences each other, but in the external force (such as the magnetic field) molecules arranged under the direction of the guide to converge on show magnetism, also known as magnets.
     Basiclly, there are two kinds of magnets: hard magnets and soft magnets,the neodymium magents are added strong magnetism, so that the electron angular moment of magnetic material arranged in a fixed direction; magnetic strips are added with the current (also a plus magnetic method) and if thecurrent is removed, soft magnets will lose the magnetism step by step. neodymium magnets are not invented by human-being, they are natural goods, Chinese people invented the compass,one of the four great inventions.