I was hoping this day would never come... 
I am working on a Rails based app and unfortunately the company I am doing a contract for wants me to use their machine. Does anyone have any suggestions for a text editor? Textmate rocks for me on mac... anything like that on PC?
While I am at it... anything to replace YourSQL as a GUI front-end for
mysql on PC? 
Thanks everyone :-).
}
} I was hoping this day would never come...
}
} I am working on a Rails based app and unfortunately the company I am
} doing a contract for wants me to use their machine. Does anyone have
} any suggestions for a text editor? Textmate rocks for me on mac...
} anything like that on PC?
}
} While I am at it... anything to replace YourSQL as a GUI front-end for
} mysql on PC?
}
} Thanks everyone :-).
I will apologize now for my rant, but rant I shall:
As a developer, it simply isn't reasonable to expect to be working on the same operating system from project to project and job to job. At the same time, it is desirable and appropriate to invest time in becoming proficient with one's tools. In tools I include all the things one uses day-to-day, with one's editor at the top of the list. Other tools include an IM client (yes, it's a development tool when some coworkers are off-site), an IRC client (Freenode is a great place for technical help, which contributes to one's development work), web browser customization (e.g. Firebug, EditCSS, and the Web Developer toolbar, at a minimum), and a commandline shell.
I use vim as my editor, and I have some 400k of configuration I copy to any new account. I use gaim for IM, and copy its config as well. Xchat for IRC. Firefox and a long list of extensions (maintained in an RDF file suitable for use as a live bookmark) for my web browser. My preferred shell is tcsh.
What do all of these have in common? They are all both Free and free (actually, xchat on Windows is shareware if you don't want to dig around and compile it yourself, but it's cheap), and available on every major OS (and most minor ones as well). My tools don't have to change when my project or job does. (The exception is Visual Studio when doing .NET or whatnot, but that's unavoidable.)
The point of this rant is that however good Textmate may seem, the cost of it being available on only a single platform is too high. The same applies to UltraEdit, BBEdit, and others. It also applies to YourSQL; whatever RDBMS I am using has a text console or something strongly resembling one, and that will do fine (and it means I just need to know SQL, not another tool). So wean yourself from Textmate and pick something that's available everywhere. Pick vim, pick emacs, pick nano if it makes you happy.
} John Kopanas --Greg
And Dr. Nic just posted all the TextMate snippets as importable into RadRails/Eclipse: http://drnicwilliams.com/2006/11/06/post-halloween-radrails-trick-all-textmate-snippets-available/
That should help you a bit.
--dwf
I know you don't mean this, but it seems as though you're advocating lowest-common-denominator, for the purpose of widespread availability.
Perhaps we should all edit code in a <textarea>!
As a developer, it simply isn't reasonable to expect to be working on the same operating system from project to project and job to job.
It very much is. You may be working for different operating system, but this not necessarily denies you the ability to work on your preffered operating system. Especially if we are talking about Rails.
<...>
The point of this rant is that however good Textmate may seem, the cost of it being available on only a single platform is too high.
<...>
Cost of jumping from platform to platform is too high, not the cost of Textmate.
The same applies to UltraEdit, BBEdit, and others. It also applies to YourSQL; whatever RDBMS I am using has a text console or something strongly resembling one, and that will do fine (and it means I just need to know SQL, not another tool). So wean yourself from Textmate and pick something that's available everywhere. Pick vim, pick emacs, pick nano if it makes you happy.
Pick anything that makes _you_ most happy/productive. That includes Textmate, YourSQL, whatever.
What I do not understand is why do they want you to use their machine anyway?
Regards, Rimantas
} } On Nov 8, 2006, at 3:04 PM, Gregory Seidman wrote: } } > The point of this rant is that however good Textmate may seem, the } > cost of it being available on only a single platform is too high. The } > same applies to UltraEdit, BBEdit, and others. It also applies to } > YourSQL; whatever RDBMS I am using has a text console or something } > strongly resembling one, and that will do fine (and it means I just } > need to know SQL, not another tool). So wean yourself from Textmate } > and pick something that's available everywhere. Pick vim, pick emacs, } > pick nano if it makes you happy. } } I know you don't mean this, but it seems as though you're advocating } lowest-common-denominator, for the purpose of widespread availability.
I certainly do not consider Vim to be the lowest common denominator, nor do I consider Emacs to be. (You might consider nano to be, but I've known people who swear by it.) They are both very powerful and customizable editors that are excellent for developing code.
When it comes to specific features, there is only one Textmate has that Vim doesn't: the fuzzy filename matching for opening files. I have hopes that someone will get around to implementing it for Vim, but it isn't enough of an advantage to abandon 15 years of time and effort invested in learning the editor, much less giving up OS independence. I'll point out that I could not have invested those 15 years in any less OS-independent editor.
} Perhaps we should all edit code in a <textarea>!
That's what MozEx is for. It's a great Firefox plugin that allows editing textareas in an external editor... and works nicely with the editor of your choice on every OS on which Firefox runs.
} -- Tom Mornini, CTO --Greg
John Kopanas wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions for a text editor?
The Zeus for Windows IDE has support for Ruby:
Zeus IDE - Programming environment for Windows developers
It does Ruby syntax highlighting, code folding and class browsing. It also has features like macro scripting, intergrated version control, smart indenting, project workspace management etc etc.
Jussi Jumppanen Author: Zeus for Windows
} > As a developer, it simply isn't reasonable to expect to be working on the } > same operating system from project to project and job to job. } } It very much is. You may be working for different operating system, but } this not necessarily denies you the ability to work on your preffered } operating system. Especially if we are talking about Rails.
In my career I've learned and worked with numerous languages, APIs, frameworks, and platforms. I'm nowhere near halfway through my career, so I expect to learn and work with even more in the future. Ruby and Rails are ascendant, but will they remain on top for the rest of my career? Doubtful. *nix, MacOS X, and Windows are all used for software development and deployment platforms. Will they always? Will something else come along? If so, I bet Vim will be ported to it, and I bet I'll wind up working on it at some point.
} <...> } > The point of this rant is that however good Textmate may seem, the cost of } > it being available on only a single platform is too high. } <...> } } Cost of jumping from platform to platform is too high, not the cost of } Textmate.
Nope. Agility is more than just a development process. I will not turn up my nose at work on a platform I don't care for. I'm delighted to be employed developing with Ruby on Rails, but I spent nearly a year at my previous job developing with VB.NET, which is much less fun. It paid the mortgage, however, and improved my marketability. Oh, yeah, and I used all the same tools the whole time.
} > The same applies to UltraEdit, BBEdit, and others. It also applies to } > YourSQL; whatever RDBMS I am using has a text console or something } > strongly resembling one, and that will do fine (and it means I just } > need to know SQL, not another tool). So wean yourself from Textmate and } > pick something that's available everywhere. Pick vim, pick emacs, pick } > nano if it makes you happy. } } Pick anything that makes _you_ most happy/productive. That includes } Textmate, YourSQL, whatever.
I agree, but I consider the long term rather than the short term. Assume for the moment that I'd be some measurable amount more productive using Textmate. That would last until I moved to another job, which is unlikely to be Mac-based, statistically, even if it's a Rails job. At that point I'd be starting over with other tools.
What makes me most productive, in the long run, is to use powerful tools that will outlast any changes in job, project, or platform. I can invest time and effort in learning them and customizing them, secure in the knowledge that that investment will pay dividend for many years to come. It would take a pretty amazing new tool to make me as productive as I am with my current tools even with six months of invested time and effort in the new tool. I've been able to benefit from 15 years of investment in Vim (and vi before it) because I could be confident that Vim would always be available to me no matter what development work I was doing.
Before you claim that OS independence isn't important, see what benefit you get from a decade or more invested in a powerful tool.
} What I do not understand is why do they want you to use their machine } anyway?
Most companies require you to work on their machines, if only to eliminate the ambiguity of what you own and what they own. Small, independent contractors can get away with working on their own equipment sometimes, but most developers are not independent contractors and do not care to be.
} Regards, } Rimantas --Greg
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