Getting started with the Eclipse platform

Use the Eclipse plug-in to edit, compile, and debug your application

Introduction: This article provides you with an overview of the Eclipse platform, including its origins and architecture. This article begins with a brief discussion of the open source nature of Eclipse and its support for multiple programming languages, and then demonstrates the Java development environment through a simple program example. This article also examines some of the software development tools available in the form of plug-in extensions and shows a plug-in extension for UML modeling.

Editor's note: This updated version of "Getting Started with Eclipse platform" was published in August 2008. This initial version will be retained for your reference. To learn about Eclipse's latest features, read the new article.

What is Eclipse?

Eclipse is an open source, java-based, extensible development platform. For its part, it is just a framework and a set of services for building the development environment through plug-in components. Fortunately, Eclipse comes with a standard set of plug-ins, including Java development tools (Java Development tools,jdt).

While most users are happy to use eclipse as the Java IDE, Eclipse's goal is not limited to this. Eclipse also includes the plug-in development environment (Plug-in Development Environment,pde), which focuses on software developers who want to extend eclipse because it allows them to build tools that seamlessly integrate with the eclipse environment. Because everything in Eclipse is a plug-in, all tool developers have an equal place to play for providing plug-ins to eclipse, as well as providing a consistent and unified integrated development environment for users.

This equality and consistency is not limited to Java development tools. Although Eclipse is developed in the Java language, its purpose is not limited to the Java language; For example, plug-ins that support programming languages such as C/S, COBOL, and Eiffel are already available or are expected to be rolled out. The Eclipse framework can also be used as a basis for other application types unrelated to software development, such as content management systems.

An outstanding example of an ECLIPSE based application is IBM's WebSphere Studio Workbench, which forms the basis of the IBM Java Development tools family. For example, WebSphere Studio application Developer adds support for JSP, servlet, EJB, XML, Web services, and database access.