NetBeans IDE 6.1
NetBeans has long been a strong Java development environment. It gained Ruby and Rails support in the last year. With Version
6.1, NetBeans is a seriously good Rails IDE.
NetBeans grew up as a Java IDE and is a Sun product, so it's no surprise that it has excellent support for JRuby. It also
supports standard Ruby, however, and has a Ruby Platform Manager to let you choose the Ruby interpreter used for a project.
The NetBeans Ruby source code editor demonstrates all sorts of intelligence about code formatting and syntax. In addition,
a right-click in the code editor brings up a context menu that lets you navigate from action to view to test to declaration, rename, refactor, reformat, run,
test, set a breakpoint, debug, or find usages. Each common action has a keystroke equivalent displayed on the menu; use the
menu enough and you'll learn them naturally. This is similar to the way TextMate bundles behave, although not as programmable.
Right-clicking in the project view brings up a context menu that lets you generate a new resource, create a new file, run
or debug rake tasks, add plug-ins, or run tests. Any time you cause a command to run, it opens a new tab in the window at
the bottom of the workspace for the output. If there is error output, references to lines of code are hyperlinked to make
it easy to jump to the correct code, very much like 3rdRail.
The code editor supports a number of shortcuts, snippets, and code templates, including a subset of the TextMate snippets.
The number of predefined Ruby and RHTML templates in NetBeans pales beside the number of Java templates, but you can define
your own templates.
NetBeans uses the ruby-debug-ide gem for fast debugging. It came configured for the fast debugger in JRuby but not standard
Ruby; I had a little trouble convincing it to switch to fast debugging for standard Ruby, but it did eventually catch on after
a couple of restarts and an update.
NetBeans may well be the overall pick of this review group, at least based on the numbers. Whether it should be your own pick,
however, depends on your personal preferences. For example, Eclipse fans may prefer RadRails or 3rdRail, and fans of "bundles"
may prefer TextMate or E.
More information about NetBeans, including five videos, can be found 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]
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| The Bottom Line |
SapphireSteel Ruby in Steel Developer Edition 1.2 and Text Edition 1.1.5
SapphireSteel Software, sapphiresteel.com
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 Very Good 8.3 |
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| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
9 |
40% |
 |
| Ease-of-use |
8 |
20% |
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| Integration |
7 |
20% |
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| Performance |
9 |
10% |
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| Value |
8 |
10% |
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Cost:
$199 for Developer Edition, $49 for Text Edition (with reduced features and performance)
Platforms:
Windows XP/Vista
Bottom Line:
If you use Visual Studio for coding in other languages and/or developing other kinds of Web sites and want to develop Ruby
programs and Rails sites in the same IDE, then Ruby in Steel is exactly what you need. The best features -- the IntelliSense
support for Ruby and Rails, the Visual Rails Workbench, and the fast Ruby and JRuby debuggers -- are reserved for the more
expensive Developer Edition.
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About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
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| The Bottom Line |
Aptana RadRails 1.0
Aptana, aptana.com
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| Very Good 8.6 |
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| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
8 |
40% |
|
| Ease-of-use |
9 |
20% |
|
| Integration |
9 |
20% |
|
| Performance |
8 |
10% |
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| Value |
10 |
10% |
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Cost:
RadRails plug-in is free; $199 ($99 intro) for Aptana Studio Professional Edition. Community Edition is free, but lacks Profiler
and JSON editor
Platforms:
Windows 32- or 64-bit platforms, Mac OS X 10.4 or higher, or Linux 32-bit with GTK.
Bottom Line:
Aptana RadRails is a cross-platform Rails editor built on top of the Eclipse IDE. The free Community Edition is good enough
for most Rails developers' needs. The fact that RadRails is part of Aptana means that RadRails users have access to excellent
JavaScript editing and debugging, which helps when working with AJAX.
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About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
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| The Bottom Line |
ActiveState Komodo IDE 4.3 and Edit 4.3
ActiveState Software, activestate.com
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| Good 7.9 |
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| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
7 |
40% |
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| Ease-of-use |
9 |
20% |
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| Integration |
8 |
20% |
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| Performance |
9 |
10% |
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| Value |
8 |
10% |
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Cost:
$295 for IDE, Edit is free
Platforms:
Windows 2000/XP/Vista; Mac OS X 10.3 and higher; Debian/Ubuntu 5.04 and higher; Red Hat/Fedora 4 and higher; Suse 9.0 and
higher
Bottom Line:
If you are already using the multiplatform, multilingual Komodo IDE for development in other languages, it makes sense to
use it for Ruby on Rails as well. It probably wouldn't be my top pick for full-time Rails developers, however. Komodo Edit
is a reasonably good free Ruby on Rails editor, but lacks the debuggers, interactive shells, HTTP inspector, DOM viewer, and
SCC integration of Komodo IDE.
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About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
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| The Bottom Line |
CodeGear 3rdRail 1.1
CodeGear, codegear.com
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| Very Good 8.4 |
|
| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
8 |
40% |
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| Ease-of-use |
9 |
20% |
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| Integration |
9 |
20% |
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| Performance |
9 |
10% |
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| Value |
7 |
10% |
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Cost:
$399
Platforms:
Windows XP/Vista; Mac OS X 10.4/10.5; Ubuntu Linux 7.1
Bottom Line:
3rdRail, which won a Jolt Productivity award last spring, offers higher developer productivity than most other Rails IDEs,
at a higher price. Developers who work on Rails applications full-time should be able to justify the initial cost in terms
of long-term productivity gains.
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About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
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| The Bottom Line |
NetBeans IDE 6.1
Sun, netbeans.org
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| Excellent 9.0 |
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| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
9 |
40% |
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| Ease-of-use |
9 |
20% |
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| Integration |
9 |
20% |
|
| Performance |
8 |
10% |
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| Value |
10 |
10% |
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Cost:
Free
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Solaris.
Bottom Line:
If you already use NetBeans for Java and/or C/C++ development, then it should probably be your top choice as a Rails IDE as
well. Delivering strong editing and navigation along with good debugging and profiling, it's a very capable and highly integrated
Rails IDE. And it's free.
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About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
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| The Bottom Line |
MacroMates TextMate 1.5.7
MacroMates, http://macromates.com
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| Very Good 8.0 |
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| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
8 |
40% |
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| Ease-of-use |
8 |
20% |
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| Integration |
7 |
20% |
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| Performance |
9 |
10% |
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| Value |
9 |
10% |
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Cost:
Around $63
Platforms:
Mac OS 10.4.2 PPC/Intel
Bottom Line:
TextMate is the favorite editor of the core Rails development team, but it's only available for Mac OS X. Its full set of
Ruby and Rails bundles help substantially with navigation, generation, and snippet insertion. Using them effectively, however,
requires memorizing shortcuts.
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About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
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| The Bottom Line |
JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA 7.0.3 with Ruby plug-in 1.0
JetBrains, jetbrains.com
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| Very Good 8.1 |
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| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
8 |
40% |
|
| Ease-of-use |
8 |
20% |
|
| Integration |
8 |
20% |
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| Performance |
9 |
10% |
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| Value |
8 |
10% |
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Cost:
$249 for IntelliJ IDEA; Ruby plug-in is free
Platforms:
Windows Vista/2003/XP/2000/NT 4.0 SP6a; Mac OS X 10.4; Red Hat Linux Fedora/9.x/8.x/7.3
Bottom Line:
If you already use IntelliJ IDEA for Java development, you might like it as a Rails IDE as well: It brings to the table good
Ruby and Rails edits, integration, and refactoring. You'll have to look elsewhere for a debugger, however.
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About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
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| The Bottom Line |
E Text Editor 1.0.20
E Text Editor, e-texteditor.com
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| Beta |
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Cost:
$34.95
Platforms:
Windows
Bottom Line:
This capable TextMate clone for Windows is fast and efficient, incorporating the TextMate bundle and shortcut mechanism and
bundle editor. Its full set of Ruby and Rails bundles help substantially with navigation, generation, and snippet insertion.
Using them effectively, however, requires memorizing shortcuts.
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