# Ruby IDE for Windows **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [September 17, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108 "2010-09-17T02:59:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/1 "2010-09-17T02:59:31Z")
I’ve looked at quite a few IDE’s (or editors) for Ruby on Windows, but seem quite unimpressed by them. I’ve tried Netbeans, RadRails, IntelliJ, Redcar and others. I’m yet to find an editor that does basic code completion. For example, if I type a new line with the keyword “File.” I would expect to be prompted with all the methods provided by the File class. It’s this functionality which you expect from an IDE. Thus far, all the IDE’s I’ve tried have been little more than glorified syntax highlighters; I may as well just use notepad++. Can I ask what others are using to edit Ruby code on Windows? ---
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/2 "2010-09-17T03:08:18Z")
I’ve just found that Netbeans does indeed have code completion, and it seems quite good. I’m still open to suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/3 "2010-09-17T03:13:41Z")
That’s odd… I’m running NetBeans 6.8 on Ubuntu, and it’s got code completion. I do have to wait a second or two for the list to pop up, but when it does, it’s got not just File’s methods, but pretty much every method available. How long did you try it for? ---
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/4 "2010-09-17T03:21:53Z")
On 9/16/2010 6:59 PM, Tom W.rop wrote: > I’ve looked at quite a few IDE’s (or editors) for Ruby on Windows, but > seem quite unimpressed by them. I’ve tried Netbeans, RadRails, IntelliJ, > Redcar and others. I’m yet to find an editor that does basic code > completion. For example, if I type a new line with the keyword “File.” I > would expect to be prompted with all the methods provided by the File > class. It’s this functionality which you expect from an IDE. Thus far, > all the IDE’s I’ve tried have been little more than glorified syntax > highlighters; I may as well just use notepad++. > > Can I ask what others are using to edit Ruby code on Windows? > I’m afraid code completion for Ruby is pretty much out. Between dynamic > typing and meta-programming, its more or less impossible to statically > determine types, much less what methods happen to be available. > Netbeans and RubyMine, both make an attempt, but of course it’s far from > perfect. Redcar also has the RSense plugin, which again, is far from > perfect. Redcar also uses TextMate snippets, which can make coding much > more pleasant. Your best bet is to learn to use IRB and the documentation effectively. While I can’t imagine writing C# or Java without code completion, I’ve found that in Ruby I really don’t tend to miss it much. For what it’s worth, there is a summary of IDEs and features here: > **[List of Ruby Editors](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1O_4dvSlh70xyRSZ_ChC8rDuWGaUOhy3_dsdgQBZEHnE/edit?hl=en&hl=en)** > > Matrix > > notepad++,Votes (if you like a certain editor, add 1 to its vote-be honest!),Price,Supported Platforms,Integrated Debugger > 0,... [https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Al\_hzYODcgxwdG9tUFhqcVVoUDVaLTlqT2YtNjV1N0E&hl=en](https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Al_hzYODcgxwdG9tUFhqcVVoUDVaLTlqT2YtNjV1N0E&hl=en) But none of these do true code completion. ---
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/5 "2010-09-17T03:23:03Z")
On Sep 16, 9:59 pm, Tom W.rop [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I’ve looked at quite a few IDE’s (or editors) for Ruby on Windows, but > seem quite unimpressed by them. I’ve tried Netbeans, RadRails, IntelliJ, > Redcar and others. I’m yet to find an editor that does basic code > completion. For example, if I type a new line with the keyword “File.” I > would expect to be prompted with all the methods provided by the File > class. It’s this functionality which you expect from an IDE. Thus far, > all the IDE’s I’ve tried have been little more than glorified syntax > highlighters; I may as well just use notepad++. Netbeans does what you’re saying, also RubyMine. > Can I ask what others are using to edit Ruby code on Windows? You can try Ruby In Stell IDE: [http://www.sapphiresteel.com/Products/Ruby-In-Steel/Ruby-In-Steel-Developer-Overview](http://www.sapphiresteel.com/Products/Ruby-In-Steel/Ruby-In-Steel-Developer-Overview) Uses Visual Studio intellisence. ---
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/6 "2010-09-17T04:00:31Z")
Walton H. wrote: > I’m afraid code completion for Ruby is pretty much out. Why? Other, much more dynamic languages have had that for more than 30 years. Why shouldn’t that be possible for Ruby? jwm ---
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/7 "2010-09-17T03:29:29Z")
Tom W.rop wrote: > Can I ask what others are using to edit Ruby code on Windows? I have been using NetBeans for three years now. I tried Rubymine, but sticks to NetBeans, with two complaints/regrets : been blocked for seconds while N. tries to deal with a stupid typing mistake and forbids to correct it (this not beeing proper to N. as I understand), and not having a Git feature (which is in favor of Rubymine). Did not try IntelliJ, which I feel really too expansive. All these editors are filled (bloated) with Rails features, it would be nice to have downgraded versions for Ruby… \_md ---
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/8 "2010-09-17T05:22:28Z")
On 9/16/2010 8:00 PM, Jörg W Mittag wrote: > Walton H. wrote: > > > I’m afraid code completion for Ruby is pretty much out. > > Why? Other, much more dynamic languages have had that for more than 30 > > years. Why shouldn’t that be possible for Ruby? > > jwm I suppose it depends on what you mean by code completion. Since the OP stated that Netbeans didn’t do code completion, I assumed what we were referring too is actually know that the object in question is of class A, and here are all the methods one can call on an object of class A. That’s likewise what I would call true code completion. The best Ruby IDEs can ever hope to do however, is what Netbeans + others do, take their best guess as to what they think MIGHT be stored in the object ‘a’ and present you with the methods they THINK are available. Of course, it could turn out that ‘a’ isn’t what Netbeans thought it might be, has methods that Netbeans was unaware of, or methods have been removed at run-time. If you think about it it should be pretty clear, in a language with eval, truly accurate static analysis for code completion can never be complete, it’s always a best-guess situation. Even if we were somehow magically able to see what methods are defined on an object at a given place in code, we still couldn’t manage complete code completion, because it’s not unheard of for methods to be defined when called for the first time via the magic of method\_missing. So I guess the point I’m trying to make is that what people coming from other languages like Java tend to think of as code completion, that is, I hit the ‘.’ key and suddenly all the options that are available appear in a nice little menu on my screen, isn’t possible. Guessing is possible, but in my experience, it’s easier and more reliable to read the docs or examine the object in IRB, than to wade through all of Netbeans’ or RubyMine’s guesses. ---
**Author:** ![tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@tomfarm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/tomfarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-ide-for-windows/195108/9 "2010-09-17T04:38:34Z")
“Tom W.rop” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote in message news:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid… > I’ve looked at quite a few IDE’s (or editors) for Ruby on Windows, but > seem quite unimpressed by them. I’ve tried Netbeans, RadRails, IntelliJ, > Redcar and others. I’m yet to find an editor that does basic code > completion. For example, if I type a new line with the keyword “File.” I > would expect to be prompted with all the methods provided by the File > class. It’s this functionality which you expect from an IDE. Thus far, > all the IDE’s I’ve tried have been little more than glorified syntax > highlighters; I may as well just use notepad++. > > Can I ask what others are using to edit Ruby code on Windows? Hello Tom: Try JetBrains RubyMine. It just replaced my previous favorite, Embarcadero TurboRuby (which also has a Rails version called 3rdRail), because the Embarcadero products don’t seem to be actively maintained anymore. Michael