I got a few questions regarding the IDE (integrated development environment) that I’m using for Rails on Windows.
While I did download Aptana Studio 3, I felt that to get a solid handle on Ruby and Rails, I should work “without a net” so to speak.
Thus, I’m using Notepad++ with the Explorer plugin to edit files, along with the command line to run rails commands
The main benefits of this setup are that I’m actually learning the framework as opposed to learning some tooling. Sure, there is no “free lunch” with NotePad++ – it’s a basic editor, with code hi-lighting, but that’s pretty much what you get with TextMate before adding in all the bundles.
The kicker here is that you need to be able to write clean html/css/javascript without the help of code completion. I’d expect that most web developers coming from ASP.NET MVC would be in this boat, but those coming from ASP.NET’s “drag & drop” hell nirvana may want to have a few books handy or use something a little heavier (like Aptana)
Is this the best RoR editor for windows? Doubtful, but for learning, I think it’s a great option.
For our training sessions, we’re recommending RedCar which is free, simple, cross-platform, and very very well-done. However, your solution is what I’ve used for over 4 years until RedCar got stable. Nice writeup!