"but several of the best Rails developers I know didn't study computer science at all"
That's because Rails developers were previously PHP developers were previously "Web Designer" or "Graduate from school but interested in Web Development due to DotCom"
"First, Rails developers need their MacBook Pros and fat external screens, obviously"
I thought Ruby = type less more magics? Why would you need a fat external screens (like those 30" Mac Monitor).
A lot of people fled from Java and its verbosity, as well. Rails is really a sweet spot in the sense of using a language that doesn't feel like such a drag, yet also being fairly structured, well ordered, and with a culture that places some value on writing good code.
I agree Ruby is a cool language with all the features you mentioned.
While it may be true that the culture in Ruby world is to "write good code", I kind of doubt that statement in the real world. Probably only a handful of Rails developers that actually stay true to that culture. The rest just want their share of web 2.0 fame.
Sorry if I'm being skeptical. Maybe cause I saw a lot of Rails blogs that don't reflect the Ruby/Rails culture.
Heres the difference: Rails is programmed on Ruby.
Rails in itself is, to me, not that impressive. It does a lot of things right, but it does probably just as many wrong. Not the least of which is scaling.
But the advantage that Rails has is that its programmed on top of Ruby. And for that reason it will never be truly akin to the monstrosity that was VB.
Except in that it attracts poor developers. But, thats simply because its easy. The trick is finding the people who use Rails because of Ruby... not the other way around.
Not that I mind this arrangement, personally.
I remember when I used PyDev (Eclipse plugin for Python) and it works pretty well.
actually if your a rails developer on windows it's the best I have used. Has all the code complete and formating that you would want plus all the integration with rails that you would expect.
I actually find myself in want of a third screen fairly often.