Ruby on Rails IDEs and editors compared

Martin Heller left no stone unturned in today's examination of Ruby on Rails IDEs and text editors (see "Lab test: Climb aboard Ruby on Rails". The nine tools for Windows, Mac, and Linux include both free and commercial products. Follow the link above for the full reviews. Below you'll find essential pros and cons for each product, and a quick comparison table showing price, OS support, and major features. Pros

Martin Heller left no stone unturned in today's examination of Ruby on Rails IDEs and text editors (see "Lab test: Climb aboard Ruby on Rails". The nine tools for Windows, Mac, and Linux include both free and commercial products. Follow the link above for the full reviews. Below you'll find essential pros and cons for each product, and a quick comparison table showing price, OS support, and major features.

Product Pros Cons
Ruby in Steel Developer Edition 1.2 and Text Edition 1.1.5 Visual Rails Workbench; Fast debugging; Excellent IntelliSense; Supports standard Ruby, JRuby, and IronRuby Weak testing integration; No refactoring support
Aptana 1.1 RadRails 1.0 Professional and Community Editions Good integration of all common Rails development functions; Free functionality is sufficient for most Rails developers; Strong refactoring capabilities; Strong test integration Performance is adequate
Komodo IDE 4.3, Komodo Edit 4.3 Good debugger; Nice testing integration; Multi-language, multi-platform; Good lightweight feel Lacks refactoring; Weak Rails M-V-C-H-T navigation
3rdRail 1.1 Wizards combine and enhance Rails generators; Commanders tie IDE to and from command line; Good code completion and navigation; Good debugger; Includes development license for InterBase More expensive than competitors
NetBeans IDE 6.1 Strong editing and navigation; Good integration; Good debugging and profiling; Gem installation manager Adequate performance
TextMate 1.5.7 Fast, efficient editor; Full set of Ruby and Rails bundles; Many useful snippets and shortcuts; Includes a bundle editor Using bundles effectively requires memorizing shortcuts
IntelliJ IDEA 7.0.3 with Ruby plug-in 1.0 Good Ruby and Rails editing; Good integration; Good refactoring No debugger
E Text Editor 1.0.20 BETA Fast, efficient editor; Full set of Ruby and Rails bundles; Many useful snippets and shortcuts; Includes a bundle editor Using bundles effectively requires memorizing shortcuts
InType 0.3.1 ALPHA Fast, efficient editor; Partial set of Ruby and Rails bundles; Many useful snippets and shortcuts Lacks a project view; Lacks a bundle editor; Using bundles effectively requires memorizing shortcuts

Pros and cons

Product Windows Mac Linux IDE Debugger Bundles Refactoring Price Notes
Ruby in Steel Developer Edition 1.2 X X X $199 Fast debugging; IntelliSense; Visual Rails
Ruby in Steel Text Edition 1.1.5 X X X $49
Aptana 1.1 RadRails 1.0 Professional X X X X X X $199 Intro $99; profiler; ftps; sftp
Aptana 1.1 RadRails 1.0 Community X X X X X X Free
Komodo IDE 4.3 X X X X X $295 Code completion
Komodo Edit 4.3 X X X Free
3rdRail 1.1 X X X X X X $399 Code completion; productivity wizards; includes InterBase
NetBeans IDE 6.1 X X X X X X Free
TextMate 1.5.7 X X $63
IntelliJ IDEA 7.0.3 with Ruby plug-in 1.0 X X X X X $249 Ruby debugging planned for IDEA 8
E Text Editor 1.0.20 BETA X X $35
InType 0.3.1 ALPHA X X Free Release $34?

Platform support and features

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Doug Dineley is an executive editor at InfoWorld, where he manages reviews.

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