MacroMates TextMate 1.5.7
As I mentioned in the introduction to this review suite, the entire Ruby on Rails core development team uses TextMate on Mac
OS X. As I do most of my development on Windows, I had to borrow a Mac (in fact, a MacBook Pro) from InfoWorld to review TextMate
firsthand. (Yes, Doug, I'll be shipping it back Real Soon Now.)
TextMate looks entirely different from IDEs such as RadRails or NetBeans. Much of the functionality you expect is there, but
it's not obvious until you pull down the Ruby or Rails bundle menu, press a shortcut key combination, or type in the abbreviation for a snippet and press Tab. For examples, see the online extract of the TextMate book or either this or this screencast. Once you discover all that functionality and get a handle on the UI, using TextMate is like having a helpful
sprite looking at what you begin to type and then completing your intentions.
It took me a while to warm up to TextMate, but once I did, I understood why its users become so attached to it. I missed the
IDE features of RadRails when I was using TextMate, but as I started to learn the Rails bundle shortcuts and my memory of
the various Rails command-line utilities returned, I could see how productive TextMate could become for a full-time user.
When I switched back to another editor and my fingers tried to use a TextMate shortcut, I was disappointed to have to go back
and type out the whole syntax; it was like losing the speed dial buttons on my phone.
If the idea of TextMate's bundles and shortcuts appeals to you but you need to or prefer to develop on Windows, consider either
E or Intype, both of which are reviewed briefly later in this suite.
If you do use TextMate most of the time, you may occasionally find yourself in need of a graphical debugger or automatic refactoring.
Either RadRails or NetBeans will serve that purpose, for free.
JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA 7.0.3 with Ruby plug-in 1.0
IntelliJ IDEA is widely regarded as an excellent Java IDE and has managed to survive as a commercial product by dint of superior
features in the face of strong competition from the free NetBeans and Eclipse products. Although the current Ruby plug-in
for IntelliJ IDEA goes a long way toward making it a good Rails IDE, it isn't all there.
Ruby and RHTML code coloring, formatting, refactoring, dependency analysis, and completion work well. Code inspections and debugging aren't yet implemented for Ruby; according to the company, a Ruby and Rails debugger
is planned for the IntelliJ IDEA 8 release.
When command shell output is shown in a Run window, it is often -- but not always -- hyperlinked to bring up the appropriate
line of code in an edit window. Unfortunately, the one line of traceback that is not hyperlinked is usually the one I need
to follow.
At this point, if you develop Rails with IntelliJ IDEA and want to use a graphical debugger on occasion, you'd be well advised
to use NetBeans or RadRails as a free secondary IDE. I can't recommend that anyone buy IntelliJ IDEA just for the Rails support,
but I can suggest it to developers who develop Rails as well as Java sites.
[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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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% |
|
| 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 |
|
| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
9 |
40% |
|
| Ease-of-use |
9 |
20% |
|
| 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% |
|
| 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 |
|
| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Features |
8 |
40% |
|
| Ease-of-use |
8 |
20% |
|
| Integration |
8 |
20% |
|
| 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 |
|
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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