Eclipse is a multi-language software development environment comprising a base workspace and an extensible plug-in system for customizing the environment. It is written mostly in Java. It can be used to develop applications in Java and, by means of various plug-ins, other programming languages including Ada, C, C++, COBOL, Fortran, Haskell, Perl, PHP, Python, R, Ruby (including Ruby on Rails framework), Scala, Clojure, Groovy, Scheme, and Erlang. It is possible to combine with web development frameworks, database frameworks or remote data access applications.

How to download and install Eclipse

Go to ​http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ and choose your operating system. If you are going to use web development, download Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers. If you are not going to use web development, download "Eclipse IDE for Java Developers". Both versions can be adapted to python by installing plugins.

Eclipse doesn't require installation so unzip it in your system, go to the main folder and click on eclipse application. It's recommended to link it from the desktop to work more efficiently.

Introduction to eclipse

When Eclipse application is started, the first thing that we have to know is what a "workspace" is. A "workspace" is a folder which contains Eclipse projects. We can have projects of different types and sources in the same workspace as well as the configurations and projects are independent among workspaces. For example, if we add a remote server for syncronising, it is only available in these workspace. If we change the java compiler version to 1.6 and we create another workspace, the newone has the java version by default. It is a quick way to work with projects that we want to keep independent.

After Eclipse initalization, choose your workspace and accept. Close the welcome tab and you will see the Eclipse interface.

Eclipse interface

Tools bar: we can import/export a project, change the preferences or install plugins. Shortcuts bar: a quick way to access to the most used functionalities. Project explorer: list the projects and allow exploration. Main window: window to edit programmes or classes. It is composed by tabs. Outline: view of methods and attributes of your classes. Has important information relative to the app. You will see errors, problems, logs, etc. Views: it is composed by different views such as Java, debug or remote repositories.

How to add a plugin to Eclipse

A plugin improve eclipse functionality and allows the integration of frameworks and tools. There are two ways to add a plugin:

If we have an URL to download it, go to Help > Install new sofware and paste the url in Work with. Then click on the elements that you want to install and follow the process.

We can find a plugin by name. Go to Help > Eclipse Marketplace and download the plugin that you need.

Eclipse integrations

Eclipse IDE integration with Java and Apache Maven EclipseDevelopment/JavaMavenIntegration

Eclipse IDE integration with remote repositories (Subversion and git) EclipseDevelopment/SubversionAndGit

Eclipse IDE integration with python

Working with Eclipse

Maven usage EclipseDevelopment/MavenConfiguration