# RadRails vs. Textmate **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [June 6, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113 "2007-06-06T15:48:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/CPerry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113/1 "2007-06-06T15:48:22Z")
Is there anyone out there can give me a comparison between RadRails/ Aptana and Textmate? I have been using skEdit for all of my general coding stuff, but I am now looking into getting a new editor for my Ruby/Rails work. I know that most Mac users swear by Textmate, but I would really like to hear some comparisons between RadRails, Textmate, and even skEdit as well. What your thoughts and recommendations? Cory ---
**Author:** ![CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/CPerry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113/2 "2007-06-06T17:26:53Z")
On Jun 6, 2007, at 9:47 AM, CPerry wrote: > I know that most Mac users swear by Textmate, but I would really > like to hear some comparisons between RadRails, Textmate, and even > skEdit as well. RadRails is an IDE (or was… at this point it’s part of Aptana, which is an IDE). TextMate is a text editor with lots of support for software development. RadRails is built to understand Rails. TextMate does that through bundles. RadRails feels like Eclipse. TextMate feels like a Mac app. RadRails throws a lot of UI at you out of the gate, and it takes a while to learn it all. TextMate throws very little UI at you, and it takes a while to find the features hidden under the covers. RadRails is free. TextMate is free for 30 days. -faisal ---
**Author:** ![CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/CPerry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113/3 "2007-06-06T17:32:54Z")
On Jun 6, 5:25 pm, Faisal N Jawdat [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > -faisal > I’ve been looking for a good Rails IDE for a long time. I’m now using > RadRails, but that doesn’t qualify at all. Does Aptana support code > completion like Eclipse can for Java, or if that’s not possible, a > little more basic like Borland Delphi? The problem is, that I have > never seen any good code completion. When I type “render (:action =\>” > I want to be able to press ctrl-space, and see all the actions. Or > when I type “.”, I want to see all the methods and attributes > of that model. Can this all be done with Aptana? ---
**Author:** ![CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/CPerry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113/4 "2007-06-06T17:37:44Z")
Please don’t forget about CodeGear’s RubyIDE offering. It is currently in public beta phase and promises to be an outstanding development too for Ruby & Rails. Just one of the rich features available is the Commander feature. It provides two-way access to the command prompt – meaning you can execute script from the commander directly in the IDE vs. keeping a terminal session open in the background. More than one commander can be opened, btw. When using using tools in the IDE such as the wizards, the commander show execution as though you ran the generate script from the command line. The RubyIDE will run on any platform Eclipse supports. ---
**Author:** ![CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/CPerry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113/5 "2007-06-06T17:42:55Z")
I have used just about every editor/IDE for Mac and must say that I come back to TextMate every time. I have purchased Komodo and must say that it is great for Ruby stuff(amazing auto-complete) and find it a lot better than RadRails, but I still tend to use TextMate for everyday stuff. If you want a real powerful editor try Emacs with the Ruby/Rails packs installed and the zentest/autotest extensions, it makes for a great IDE/Editor. At the end of the day though, it is up to what you feel most comfortable with. I choose TextMate because I like it for Ruby work, I am a die hard Emacs man for Lisp. On 6/6/07, halfgaar [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > features hidden under the covers. RadRails is free. TextMate is > > when I type “.”, I want to see all the methods and attributes > > of that model. Can this all be done with Aptana? > > > – “Work hard to find something that fascinates you.” - Richard Feynman ---
**Author:** ![CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/CPerry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113/6 "2007-06-06T17:44:57Z")
On Jun 6, 2007, at 11:32 AM, halfgaar wrote: > I’ve been looking for a good Rails IDE for a long time. I’m now using > RadRails, but that doesn’t qualify at all. I’m the wrong person to ask for details – I’ve never found an IDE that seemed to help more than confound (and I was scarred by Pascal Genie in my youth – mail me off list if you know what the heck I’m talking about there). That said, it does seem the Aptana people are moving the ball forward. You might also check out what the NetBeans team is doing with release 6. -faisal ---
**Author:** ![CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/CPerry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113/7 "2007-06-06T17:57:58Z")
On Jun 6, 5:37 pm, Cody S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Just one of the rich features available is the Commander feature. It > provides two-way access to the command prompt – meaning you can execute > script from the commander directly in the IDE vs. keeping a terminal > session open in the background. More than one commander can be opened, > btw. When using using tools in the IDE such as the wizards, the > commander show execution as though you ran the generate script from the > command line. > > The RubyIDE will run on any platform Eclipse supports. I never cared for command-line things made available in wizards. It’s kind of like this feature in Kdevelop, which allows you to add a HTML tag through a dialog. I mean, I don’t need a wizard for that… They only hinder me. And, I don’t use the generate script either, because I have to supply –omit-migration and delete the unit tests and fixtures anyway 🙂 And, the former isn’t available in the wizard of radrails, so another reason not to use wizards… ---
**Author:** ![CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CPerry](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/CPerry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/radrails-vs-textmate/106113/8 "2007-06-06T18:54:17Z")
The commander window also has code-completion. :o) If you’re looking for a list of plug-ins for instance, type “script/plugin install” and hit ctrl-spacebar. The IDE fetches a list of plug-ins live from the Internet and presents the to you. Wiebe C. wrote: > On Jun 6, 5:37 pm, Cody S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) > wrote: > > > Just one of the rich features available is the Commander feature. It > > provides two-way access to the command prompt – meaning you can execute > > script from the commander directly in the IDE vs. keeping a terminal > > session open in the background. More than one commander can be opened, > > btw. When using using tools in the IDE such as the wizards, the > > commander show execution as though you ran the generate script from the > > command line. > > > > The RubyIDE will run on any platform Eclipse supports. > > I never cared for command-line things made available in wizards. It’s > kind of like this feature in Kdevelop, which allows you to add a HTML > tag through a dialog. I mean, I don’t need a wizard for that… They > only hinder me. > > And, I don’t use the generate script either, because I have to supply > –omit-migration and delete the unit tests and fixtures anyway 🙂 And, > the former isn’t available in the wizard of radrails, so another > reason not to use wizards…