HOW-TO: Configure eclipse for Ruby on Rails

Sonjaya Tandon in her recent HOW-TO: Configure eclipse for Ruby on Rails says:

In this guide, I will go over how to configure Eclipse for Ruby on Rails. In the next one, I will go over setting up a simple project.

She points out two prerequisites in this fantastic, step-by-step, screenshot-laden tutorial:

1. Make sure you are using Eclipse 3.1
2. Make sure you have Ruby On Rails (and Ruby) already installed before you begin.

Some people have gotten burned by not heeding prerequisite number two... !

If you do not have Rails installed, you cannot configure Eclipse to use it. Then, major Rails related things are not going to be working - and you will be confused! The same holds true for having Ruby itself installed beforehand too.

Of course, there is a simpler way to get going with Rails development. You can simply download RadRails IDE, which is itself based on Eclipse IDE, and start using it right away. Again, make sure you have your prerequisite software installed before you run the application.

For now, I am simply using RadRails on my Macintosh.