Both products do an extremely good job.  The main differences are in feature set and development philosophy.   RapidSQL can work in either a connected or disconnected mode.  The other main difference is in debuggers.  SQL-Programmer has an add-on module to do TSQL and PL/SQL debugging.  RapidSQL has an add-on debugger module, but it is only available for PL/SQL.  A TSQL debugger is in the near future for RapidSQL.  SQL-Programmer requires you to be connected to a database to do anything.  I would make more use out of RapidSQL mainly due to the feature set and the ability to work remotely.  But when I have to trace and analyze a system, SQL-Programmer is the tool that I would turn to because of the TSQL debugging capability.  If it is in your budget, I would actually purchase both of them to take advantage of the strengths and features present in both products.

RapidSQL provides a significant productivity boost with a variety of features.  It has integrated e-mail support for any MAPI compliant e-mail system, color coded syntax which can be a real lifesaver, split screen error reporting and double click navigation to an error, browser windows, favorites list where you can store frequently used scripts and script fragments for drag and drop inclusion, a SQL syntax builder, query builder, multiple workspaces, bookmarks within scripts for easy navigation, script execution facility to allow the execution of a script against multiple data sources, version control integration, parallel querying capability, active scripting, an exposed object model, database search, and the most powerful textual search engine that I have seen.

When you open RapidSQL, you will be presented with the main workspace as shown below.  RapidSQL can accommodate 3 completely separate workspaces that you can manage independently.  The first toolbar that you see is devoted to registering data sources, connecting, and window arrangement.  The second toolbar will probably be your most heavily used.  From here you create/open/save/print/e-mail scripts, access options settings, navigate workspaces, turn on/off the output window, search for text in files, search of strings or objects in one or more databases/servers/DBMSes, access the script execution facility/scheduler/visual difference, open table/index/stored proc/trigger/view explorers and PL/SQL debugging features.  The third toolbar contains access to source code control, cut/copy/paste, comment in/out a block of SQL, upper/lower case a block of SQL, search/replace, and bookmarking.  The Explorer on the left allows access to each registered data source with the ability to navigate them like a tree.  At the bottom is an output window containing tons of information about the status and messages received as you work.

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