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Intro to Eclipse

Do This Now

Go to http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/. Under Desktop IDEs go to Java EE. Make sure you're looking at Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers and start the download for your operating system.

Developers use Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) to maximize their productivity.

  • An IDE includes sophisticated code editors, built-in compilation, testing, debugging, and many other features.

Popular Java IDEs include:

  • Eclipse, originally from IBM, now open-source.

  • NetBeans, originally from from Sun/Oracle, now open-source.

  • IntelliJ IDEA, from JetBrains: a subscription-based commercial product.

Eclipse is the most popular open-source Java IDE available today.

  • Eclipse can be customized with plugins, and there are hundreds of plugins available at the Eclipse Marketplace and other software sites.

  • Initially created for Java developers, it's been adapted for many other languages and development tasks.

  • Because it's written almost entirely in Java, it's available for multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, and MacOS.

You can find a wide variety of Eclipse packages - combinations of the basic Eclipse Platform with plugins for particular languages and types of development

  • The Eclipse Foundation provides several at http://eclipse.org/downloads/eclipse-packages

  • Many third-party organizations have built their own Eclipse-based projects, both open-source and commercial.

  • Eclipse IDE for Java developers includes several important plugins, including the Eclipse Java Developer Tools (JDT).

We're going to start with Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers which, in addition to Eclipse's extensive Java programming support, includes:

  • Everything that's included in Eclipse for Java Developers.

  • The Web Tools Platform (WTP), a collection of tools for developing Java web applications.

  • Server Tools for managing web application servers during development.

  • Integration with Maven, a popular build-automation tool.

  • Lots more.

Practice Exercise

The Eclipse Foundation comes out with a new major release every June. The releases are primarily referred to by name rather than version number, with the names following a scientific/astronomical theme in ascending alphabetical order: * Eclipse 1.0 - October, 2001 * Eclipse 2.0 - June, 2002 * Eclipse 3.0 - June, 2004 * Eclipse 3.1 - June, 2005 * Eclipse 3.2 (Callisto) - June, 2006 * Eclipse 3.3 (Europa) - June, 2007 * Eclipse 3.4 (Ganymede) - June, 2008 * Eclipse 3.5 (Galileo) - June, 2009 * Eclipse 3.6 (Helios) - June, 2010 * Eclipse 3.7 (Indigo) - June, 2011 * Eclipse 4.2 (Juno) - June, 2012 * Eclipse 4.3 (Kepler) - June, 2013 * Eclipse 4.4 (Luna) - June, 2014 * Eclipse 4.5 (Mars) - June, 2015 * Eclipse 4.6 (Neon) - June, 2016 * Eclipse 4.7 (Oxygen) - June, 2017 * Eclipse 4.8 (Photon) - June, 2018

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