ActiveState Komodo IDE 4.3 and Edit 4.3
I have used Komodo IDE user for Python, Perl, and regular expression development for several years, and occasionally for Ruby, XSLT, and JavaScript development in the last year. When I previewed Komodo IDE 4.0 early last year, I said that "it's worth having if you do more than occasional programming in one or more of the scripting languages that it supports." At the time, Komodo was useful for Ruby scripts, but not for Rails development.

Version 4.0 basically added browser-side features to the IDE. Version 4.1 made Komodo a Ruby on Rails IDE. Version 4.2 smoothed out some features and added auto-update. Version 4.3 added Rails 2 support, unit test integration, improved global search and replace, and abbreviations for inserting snippets. Version 4.4, which was released after most of this review was written, added a section list, multifile SCC commit, column editing, and improved unit testing.

Although Komodo IDE is fairly good as a multiplatform Rails IDE, it's not my favorite of the group. When using Komodo for Rails development, I miss the refactoring support and navigation enhancements found in several of the other products.

A video introduction to Komodo IDE is available for viewing here. You'll find 19 short Web tours of the IDE here.

CodeGear 3rdRail 1.1
On the surface, 3rdRail seems very similar to Aptana RadRails: They're both easy-to-use Rails IDEs built on Eclipse that also have JavaScript development support. If the comparison ended there, 3rdRail would be in trouble, because the base version of RadRails is free. It doesn't end there, however; 3rdRail is an even more productive environment than RadRails.

For example, RadRails provides simple GUI front ends for Rails generators and rake tasks; 3rdRail goes one better and provides higher-level wizards that collect the necessary information in a GUI and then run a sequence of generators and/or rake tasks in an enhanced command shell.

CodeGear calls this enhanced shell "commanders" and describes it this way: Commanders "merge the power of the command line with the ease of use and productivity of the IDE. This provides the ability to dynamically switch between typing on command lines and the IDE's tools, which are all integrated into the command line. For example, output from commands adding a model or view is immediately reflected throughout the IDE. Command output is hyperlinked, so that clicking on any generated file or folder will open that in the IDE."

That hyperlinking is surprisingly useful for such a simple feature. It can be very confusing to figure out why a test failed or a Rails page threw an error. With 3rdRail, once you pick out the root cause from the command output, one click takes you to the correct line of code. In similar fashion, the 3rdRail dependencies view lets you quickly navigate to the right code from a graphical representation of the application's functionality.

3rdRail offers numerous helpers in the edit window. For example, right-clicking in an edit window brings up a context menu with more than a dozen items, many of which bring up submenus.

Because 3rdRail is more expensive than any other tool reviewed in this suite, and because some of the free tools are more than adequate for Rails development, I would suggest 3rdRail only for developers who spend most of their time building Rails and could justify the increased cost in terms of productivity gains.

To view a video of CodeGear in action, go here. For more on the product's features, go here.

[Jump to the review of the Ruby on Rails IDE of your choice from the list below:
SapphireSteel Ruby in Steel Developer Edition 1.2 and Text Edition 1.1.5
Aptana RadRails 1.0
ActiveState Komodo IDE 4.3 and Edit 4.3
CodeGear 3rdRail 1.1
NetBeans IDE 6.1
MacroMates TextMate 1.5.7
JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA 7.0.3 with Ruby plug-in 1.0
E Text Editor 1.0.20 Beta
Intype 0.3.1 Alpha]