Given my love for the ASP.NET MVC Framework, I recently started learning Rails to help me understand alternative MVC Web Application Frameworks as well as where the inspiration came from when Microsoft was creating the ASP.NET MVC Framework.
This is no small task as I not only have to learn a completely different language, Ruby, but I am also for the first time developing on Mac OS X.
The biggest bright spot in all of this is the fact that JetBrains recenly released an IDE specifically for building Rails Applications, called RubyMine. RubyMine is pure joy IMHO as it allows me to concentrate on learning Ruby and Rails and less about navigating around the project and the Mac OS X environment. Sure I want to learn the low-level stuff, but in due time. Right now learning Ruby and Rails is enough of a challenge and RubyMine makes it easy and very productive with:
- a “Rails“ Project View that makes navigating around the project simple
- Intellisense
- Ruby Gems Manager
- Code Analysis
- IRB and Rails Console from the IDE
- Ability to run various Script and Rake Commands from the IDE
- etc..
If you are a beginner or even a veteran Rails Developer, you have to check out RubyMine. It is amazing IMHO. I know a lot of people talk well of TextMate, and it is a wonderful application on the Mac, but RubyMine was specifically built for Rails applications and has all the wonderful essential tools as well as the code analysis and other things we have come to love from ReSharper.
Download the trial version and check out the RubyMine screencasts.
David Hayden
Also blogged at PnPGuidance: JetBrains RubyMine for Ruby on Rails Web Development - Rails IDE
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