IDE with refactoring support for Ruby on Rails

Asked 2012-01-02T20:42:38.123

I am a java developer and use the Eclipse IDE for developing java code. I use the built-in refactoring features a lot, since good refactoring support from the IDE helps to speed up and leads to higher code quality. I would not like to miss it and use a simple text editor instead. Now I am looking for an IDE for Ruby on Rails with good refactoring capabilities.

Basic refactorings

Wanted basic refactoring methods include:

Extract method
Extract variable
Rename (class, method, variable etc.)

and so on.

Aptana Studio 3, RadRails 2, RubyMine 3 and Netbeans 7

So far I've tried Aptana Studio 3 and was quite disappointed regarding its refactoring capabilities. Aptana RadRails 2 seemed much better for refactoring ruby code, but it lacks other nice features that the newer Aptana Studio 3 offers. Since Aptana Studio 3 seems to be RadRails' successor I would expect that it has at least the same refactorings as the older RadRails 2, but it does not. Using an old unmaintained IDE does not seem a good option. Receiving updates for the IDE should still be possible.

I've read that Jetbrains RubyMine 3 has decent ruby refactoring capabilities, but it costs money. I am rather looking for a free one. Netbeans 7 seems not to support Ruby on Rails anymore.

Are there good IDEs with refactoring support?

That confuses me, it seems like modern IDEs drop (refactoring) support for Ruby on Rails. What are nowadays (Jan 2012) the most powerful IDEs for refactoring Ruby on Rails code?

Update: Netbeans 7

As suggested by Jörg W Mittag I've tried Netbeans 7 with the ruby plugin provided by the community. I have to say that this combination is much better than Ap

Edit Report

2 Answers

RubyMine was my choice and I use refactoring once in a while. When using 'rename' it's never complete, but better than global-search-replace. Extraction etc works well.

Overall it's a great tool, albeit a memory hog, but I use it all the time now, especially for debugging. I know, it costs money, but I wanted to put in a good word for them anyway...

answered 2012-01-02T21:07:52.730

Netbeans 7 seems not to support Ruby on Rails anymore

That's not true. Quite the opposite actually. Yes, Oracle dropped support for the Ruby on Rails plugin and gave maintenance over to the Ruby community. But the plugin is still available from the same place it was before, the community is still using the same infrastructure to develop, maintain and distribute the plugin as before. And since most of the people who originally wrote the plugin work for Google now, they can now again work on the code, now that it is no longer owned by the company that is suing their employer.

answered 2012-01-03T03:38:45.353