which editor for ruby?

[sandip]

I'm new to ruby(I have a C and basic java background....)
I downloaded the instant rails package from their website.....which text editor should i download(windows)??
irb seems quite inconvenient...Please suggest options....
Also, what is the best way to go about learning ruby and susequently rails??

[rob]

The Ruby Editor Wars (tm) rage on and on, and you'll get a different opinion from nearly anyone you ask.

Personally, on Windows, I prefer the e Text Editor (http://www.e-texteditor.com/). This is an amazing editor and very well suited to Rails.

On Linux, I like gEdit (http://www.gnome.org/projects/gedit/). It's installed by default on nearly every graphical Linux distribution. Many other people though on Linux use vim and emacs, and personally I've found vim better suited than emacs (doesn't mean I like emacs better for everything over vim). :)

On any platform, there's Aptana (http://www.aptana.com/), which used to be RadRails. It's an amazingly powerful IDE, but it is a bit heavyweight.

On the Mac, people pretty much go for TextMate, but there are a few emacs and Aptana users as well.

To learn Ruby, start your search at http://www.ruby-lang.org/ They've got info to help you get started.