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15104

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21

I've been using Eclipse with RDT (not RadRails) a lot lately, and I'm quite happy with it, but I'm wondering if you guys know any decent alternatives. I know NetBeans also supports Ruby these days, but I'm not sure what it has to offer over Eclipse.

Please, list any features you think are brilliant or useful when suggesting an IDE, makes it easier to compare.

Also, I said Ruby, not Rails. While Rails support is a plus, I prefer things to be none Rails-centric. It should also be available on Linux and optionally Solaris.

+3  A: 

I have used Komodo and it's pretty good. I use textmate now.

Maudite
+5  A: 

Have you tried Aptana? It's based on Eclipse and they have a sweet Rails plugin.

Bernie Perez
Aptana seems to be the best IDE for Ruby, but I hate how it changes all my key mappings for the various editors (e.g., they remap <ctrl>-1 in the Java editor), and I hate how it writes databases in whatever directory I happen to be in when I start the IDE. Yuck. They're obviously not eating their own dog food.
Don Branson
Aptana sucks. It tells me that common english words are spelt wrong and gives me pointless warnings.
GreenRails
In the preferences you can disable the spell checker and warnings that don't apply to your language.
Bernie Perez
I tend to use Aptana exclusively for PHP/Ruby development, and standard Eclipse for JAVA, C, C++ etc. This prevents me from dealing with pointless warnings.
Zachary Spencer
+2  A: 

Aptana more or less is RadRails, or it's based on it. I've used it, and it's really good, but it does have some problems. For instance, it breaks the basic search dialog on my system (giving a raw java exception to the end user), and it clutters the interface with add like notices and upgrade bars and news feeds and...

But all in all it's pretty good, especially its editors (ERB, HTML/XML, ...) are top notch.

wvdschel
+8  A: 

The latest Netbeans IDE (6.1) has a pretty solid Ruby support.

You can check it out here.

Pascal
NetBeans has been coming along nicely and their Ruby and JRuby support is top-notch. Version 6.9.1 is the current as of this comment, with 6.10 on the way. Check out the live code coverage feature!
Mark Thomas
+12  A: 

On MacOSX, TextMate is a godsend.

CodingWithoutComments
Although TextMate is great text editor, people should educate themselves on the concept of IDE...
Hugo S Ferreira
+1  A: 

+1 for TextMate on OSX.

See also answers to this question. I recommend trying NetBeans if you're on Windows.

James A. Rosen
+5  A: 

NetBeans has some really solid Ruby support.

conmulligan
+1  A: 

I prefer TextMate on OS X. But Netbeans (multi-platform) is coming along quite nicely. Plus it comes with its IDE fully functional debugger.

+1  A: 

I'd recommend NetBeans 6.1 too. Very nice IDE and makes working with Ruby a pleasure.

+3  A: 

Netbeans is good becasue you can use it on Windows and OSX.

FortunateDuke
On Linux too. :)
Mladen Jablanović
+1  A: 

I started out with RadRails then moved to Aptana when they took it over, wasn't too bad. Got a macbook and have been using Textmate, never going back.

John Duff
+1  A: 

Textmate on osx

TonyLa
+1  A: 

For very simple Linux support if you like TextMate, try just gedit loaded with the right plugins. Easy to set up and really customizable, I use it for just about everything. There's also a lot of talk about emacs plugins if you're already using that normally.

Gedit: How to set up like TextMate

PJ
+1  A: 

e-texteditor is great (textmate compatible sort-of-clone for windows)

Orion Edwards
his requirements include linux support. you can get e running in wine, but that is sort of meh.
Matt Briggs
+6  A: 

Redcar has been getting some attention lately, as well. Still early in its life, but it shows promise.

+12  A: 

Vim / GVim is a great IDE for Ruby / Rails. Check out this site for more information on getting it setup: http://biodegradablegeek.com/2007/12/using-vim-as-a-complete-ruby-on-rails-ide/

Mutewinter
all the "cool kids" in the rails community are switching to vim now
Matt Briggs
All sheeps are following wycats :-)
Tass
@Matt: I laughed hard at your comment. Thanks! :-)
Swanand
+13  A: 

RubyMine from JetBrains. (Also available as a plugin to IntelliJ IDEA)

rlovtang
I've been using rubymine for about a month and it's a nice development environment.
jshen
A: 

I was really into NetBeans for a while but last year I switched to Vim. It was far from painless, but I like that better now. Vim isn't exactly an IDE but the cool thing about it to me is that it's all keyboard and it lets you do everything without messing with the mouse.

Ethan
+1  A: 

Once I found Geany (Ubuntu), I switched from TextMate (OSX) and never looked back. Geany is a lean, clean, speedy IDE that can be used either as a text editor or a light-weight IDE. It supports not only text editing features (syntax highlighting, code folding, auto-completion, auto-closing, symbol lists, code navigation, directory tree, multi-tabbed open files etc.) but also normal IDE features such as simple project management, compile-build-run within the main window. Unlike TextMate, it has a Terminal screen within its own window; you do not have to go back and force between your editor window and terminal window. Unlike TextMate, it supports international languages. Unlike TextMate, it supports multi-platforms, Unlike TextMate, it is open-source and free. Geany is now my favorite C/Ruby/XML development tool.

socrateos
A: 

Ruby in Steel: http://www.sapphiresteel.com/Products/Ruby-In-Steel/Ruby-In-Steel-Developer-Overview

A Visual Studio based Ruby IDE. Fast Debugger. Intellisense.

Kevin Driedger
+1  A: 

In last 3 months, I have tried RadRails, Netbeans and RubyMine and finally settled on RubyMine not so much for features but for responsiveness and stability reasons.

In terms of features, RubyMine has slightly better code completion, debugging and code navigation, but only ruby beginners(like myself) need them most. Relying on code completion and code navigation is anti-ruby/rails, as ruby/rails names are supposed to be natural and each line of code needs to be in its convention determined location.

mv288