CodeGear ships Ruby on Rails IDE

Tool set from Borland unit offers AJAX support, database integration features

By Heather Havenstein

September 17, 2007 12:00 PM ET

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Computerworld - CodeGear Monday began shipping a new integrated development environment (IDE) for Ruby on Rails that aims to ease the development of Web applications based on the Ruby programming language.

Michael Swindell, vice president of product and strategy at the Borland Software Corp. subsidiary, contended that the new 3rdRail tool set is the first development environment built from the ground up to build Rails applications.

"We're seeing some interest from teams that were previously using enterprise JavaBeans," he said. "The primary driver from the Java side is the complexity of Java applications and J2EE. It is very expensive and complex. We've been hearing demand from customers for an easier Java than Java."

For many organizations, Ruby on Rails meets multiple criteria for building Web applications, including support for AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and deep integration with databases, Swindell added.

"[Ruby on Rails] allows them to get applications up and running quickly … with a highly interactive user experience," Swindell said.

The new IDE includes CodeGear Commander, a quick interface to the command line for running code generators and performing other tasks, said Joe McGlynn, director of product management at CodeGear. Outputs from commands are immediately reflected throughout the IDE, he added.

The tool set also provides a single view of all project interdependencies, McGlynn said.

The 3rdRail IDE's Intelligent Code Completion component allows developers to write programs more accurately and with less keystrokes, McGlynn said. The tool is built to understand the context of what the developer is doing and to predict next steps, the company said.

Refactoring tools in the IDE allow developers to reorganize their application code without changing the results, McGlynn added.

David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails, said in a statement that the new IDE represents an important step for Ruby on Rails tools. "This opens up a whole new world for things like advanced refactorings and, in general, provides an environment that's familiar to anyone coming from IDE-heavy environments like .Net or J2EE."

The IDE costs $299, including a one-year maintenance subscription.

Read more about development in Computerworld's Development Knowledge Center.

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