CSC/ECE 517 Fall 2010/ch1 1a lj

Introduction

In this Wiki, several kinds of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) for Ruby language are shown and their features are compared.

What is Ruby

Ruby

Ruby is a dynamic, open-source and general-purpose object-oriented programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write. Ruby supports multiple programming paradigms, including functional, object oriented, imperative and reflective. It also has a dynamic type system and automatic memory management. In Ruby, everything is an object. Every bit of information and code can be given their own properties and actions. Ruby is seen as a flexible language, since it allows its users to freely alter its parts. Ruby’s block are also seen as a source of great flexibility. A programmer can attach a closure to any method, describing how that method should act. Unlike many object-oriented languages, Ruby features single inheritance only, on purpose. But Ruby knows the concept of modules (called Categories in Objective-C). <ref> http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/about/ </ref>

Some Key Features of Ruby

Interpreted<ref>http://www.ntecs.de/old-hp/s-direktnet/ruby_en.html</ref>

Advantage: Immediately executable (no waiting period while compiling)

Disadvantage: Execution speed much slower than with compiler (e.g. Pascal, C++)

Portable

Ruby is highly portable, so that one and the same Ruby program runs without changes under UNIX, Windows, DOS, Mac, BeOS and others. Of course that's only true unless using platform-specific modules, like for example some GUI's for UNIX or WinGKR (Win32 GUI Kit for Ruby).

Advantage:less expenditure (only one program had to be managed); wider distribution of the program (because it runs on serveral platforms)

Untyped

Variables in Ruby have no type, such as in Smalltalk, BASIC or Python. Variables behave as placeholders, but data is typed. In C++ or Pascal, variables are typed (e.g. int / Integer), but the data in the memory is not, that is you cannot recognize if it's a String or an Integer. In C++ or Pascal the types are checked at compile-time, whereas Ruby checks the type at runtime, so if the object understands the message (method-call) is first known after a method-call. You do not have to declare variables, because they are automatically created when you use them.

Automatic memory-management (garbage collection)

You do not have to release allocated memory in Ruby (as you have to do in Pascal/C++ with dispose/free). No longer used memory, i.e. memory-frames where no variable points to, are automatically freed by the garbage collector.

Advanced OO-concepts and features

-Singleton methods

-Mix-in instead of multiple-inheritance

-Operator overloading

-Method-overloading (such as C++)

-Exception handling

-Iterators and closures

-Meta-class

-Build-in pattern-matching (like Perl)

What is an IDE

An integrated development environment (IDE) (also known as integrated design environment, integrated debugging environment or interactive development environment) is an application software that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment</ref> An IDE normally consists of:

a source code editor
a compiler and/or an interpreter (computing)|interpreter
build automation tools
a debugger

Sometimes a version control system and various tools are integrated to simplify the construction of a GUI. Many modern IDEs also have a class browser, an object inspector, and a class hierarchy diagram, for use with object-oriented software development.

Popular IDEs for Ruby

Eclipse

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Eclipse is a multi-language software development environment comprising an integrated development environment (IDE) and an extensible plug-in system. It is written mostly in Java and can be used to develop applications in Java and, by means of various plug-ins, other programming languages including Ada, C, C++, COBOL, Perl, PHP, Python, R, Ruby (including Ruby on Rails framework), Scala, Clojure, Groovy and Scheme. <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(software)</ref>

Aptana RadRails

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Aptana RadRails is a Rapid Application Development IDE for the Ruby on Rails framework. The goal of RadRails is to provide Ruby on Rails developers with everything they need to develop, manage, test and deploy their applications. Features include source control, code assist, refactoring, debugging, WEBrick servers, generator wizards, syntax highlighting, data tools, and much more. <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RadRails</ref> RadRails is now included as part of Aptana Studio 3. <ref>http://www.aptana.com/products/radrails </ref>

RubyMine

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JetBrains RubyMine IDE provides a comprehensive Ruby code editor aware of dynamic language specifics and delivers smart coding assistance, intelligent code refactoring and code analysis capabilities. Easy project configuration, automatic Ruby Gems management, Rake support. <ref>http://www.jetbrains.com/ruby/features/index.html </ref>

NetBeans IDE

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NetBeans refers to both a platform framework for Java desktop applications, and an integrated development environment (IDE) for developing with Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Groovy, C, C++ ,Ruby and others. NetBeans IDE is a free, open-source Integrated Development Environment for software developers. All the tools needed to create professional desktop, enterprise, web, and mobile applications with the Java platform, as well as with C/C++, PHP, JavaScript and Groovy. Noting that in NetBeans IDE 7.0, support for Ruby and Ruby on Rails is no longer available in the standard NetBeans IDE build. <ref>http://netbeans.org/features/index.html</ref> In the following comparison we will use NetBeans IDE 6.9.

Comparison of Different IDEs for Ruby

Features

	Eclipse	RubyMine	NetBeans	Aptana RadRails
	Open Source	Commercial	Open Source	Open Source
Language	Multilingual	Ruby	Multilingual	Ruby
Platform	Cross-Platform	Cross-Platform	Cross-Platform	Cross-Platform
Support Multiple Processes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Plug-In	Plug-In Supported	API Supported	Plug-In Supported	Plug-In Supported
Some Uniqueness to Point out	Complicated for new learner; Support client plug-in	Graphical Ruby Debugger; Model Dependency Diagram for Ruby on Rails projects; Code refactorings for Ruby with knowledge about Ruby on Rails specifics; RSpec, Cucumber, Shoulda & Test::Unit test frameworks support with test-runner GUI	From Version7, NetBeans IDE no longer support Ruby	Fast, integrated debugger; Embedded database navigator and query console; Snippets and wizards; Deep support for Ruby; Ruby code generation: constructors, overrides, templates, accessors

<ref>http://help.eclipse.org/indigo/index.jsp?topic=%2Forg.eclipse.jdt.doc.user%2Freference%2Fref-menu-refactor.htm</ref> <ref>http://www.ruzee.com/blog/2007/02/rdt-and-radrails-keyboard-shortcuts</ref> <ref>http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/cn/opensource/os-ecl-mthrd/index.html</ref>

Refactoring

	Eclipse	RubyMine	NetBeans	Aptana RadRails
Refactor Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rename	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Move	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Copy	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Change Method Signature	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extract Method	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extract Local Variable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extract Constant	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Inline	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Convert Anonymous Class to Nested	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Move Type to New File	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Extract Superclass	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extract Interface	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Use Supertype Where Possible	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Push Down	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pull Up	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extract Module	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Introduce Parameter Object	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Introduce Indirection	Yes	No	No	Yes
Introduce Factory	Yes	No	No	Yes
Introduce Parameter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Encapsulate Field	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Generalize Declared Type	Yes	No	No	Yes
Infer Generic Type Arguments	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Safe Delete	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

<ref>http://tnlessone.wordpress.com/2007/02/28/ruby-rails-ide-comparison-idea-netbeans-radrails/</ref> <ref>http://netbeans.org/project_downloads/usersguide/shortcuts.pdf</ref>

Version Control

	Eclipse	RubyMine	NetBeans	Aptana RadRails
Subversion	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Git	Yes	Yes	No	No
Perforce	Yes	Yes	No	No
CVS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mercurial	Yes	No	Yes	No
Clearcase	Yes	No	Yes	No
SVN	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

<ref>http://pg-server.csc.ncsu.edu/mediawiki/index.php/CSC/ECE_517_Fall_2009/wiki1a_6_aa</ref>

Editing

	Eclipse	RubyMine	NetBeans	Aptana RadRails
Code Completion	Available	Available	Available	Available
Type Hierarchy View	Available	Available	Unavailable	Available
Smart Indent	Available	Available	Available	Available
Syntax Highlighting	Available	Available	Available	Available