From: James Britt Date: 2010-05-03T16:39:30+09:00 Subject: Re: bottom line question to help me get started Kaye Ng wrote: > I will take Walton's advice and read the "poignant guide to Ruby". When > I have more or less mastered Ruby's syntax, I will then look into > designing interface. > > So bottom line question is this: To make a usable program for my > company, should or shouldn't I use an IDE together with Ruby? Seebs > says IDE's are unnecessary. I had no idea it was so. I used to think > that an IDE is the only or primary tool to make a GUI. How else was I > going to make a GUI? There are UI toolkits that allow you to use a text editor to define what you want without having to draw it in a WYSWYG GUI tool. For example, with JRuby, you can use Neurogami::SwingSet to create Swing forms and such and create assorted GUI apps all from a basic text editor. As a practical matter, though, there are degrees of complexity and nuance where you are much better off using a visual tool to layout your forms. So, with JRuby (for example), you would do well in using the free GUI editor that is built into Netbeans, and build forms for use with the Monkeybars MVC framework. I believe you have similar options for non-JRuby Ruby GUI apps as well. (I focus on JRuby because it affords me the fastest, most robust path for building and packaging cross-platform desktop apps.) Bottom line is that non-IDE GUI development is certainly doable, and perhaps some people prefer it, but if your application is even moderately complex you're better using a tool to help you design the screens. A calculator app, though, is likely simple enough that you don't need an IDE to build it. And it's good to know how your code is actually working under the hood. -- James Britt www.jamesbritt.com - Playing with Better Toys www.ruby-doc.org - Ruby Help & Documentation www.rubystuff.com - The Ruby Store for Ruby Stuff www.neurogami.com - Smart application development