[ba-ohs-talk] Fwd: anybody else checked out Eclipse?
Interesting evaluation of Eclipse. Possible place for Eclipse in an OHS? (01)
>From: Mark Wilcox <mark.wilcox@WEBCT.COM>
>To: JASIG-PORTAL@linux08.UNM.EDU
>
>I'm sure many of you have at least heard about the Eclipse project
>(www.eclipse.org).
>
>If you haven't, here's a quick summary:
>
> Eclipse is an open-source editor environment written in Java and
> sponsored
>by OTI, which is a subsidiary of IBM & who's been writing IDEs for a long
>time.
>
> Eclipse is different than your earlier Java IDEs because it uses
> a new
>windowing toolkit called SWT which is basically AWT done right. More to the
>point, it's a lot faster than Swing based environments (ie Forte) and can
>integrate with native document editors (for example call Word if you're on
>Windows). SWT, like AWT, has to be ported to each OS you want to run on.
>But it runs on Windows & it's also on Linux (though haven't tried it there).
>
> Two other differences -- no GUI builder and is actually used in
> commercial
>systems (as binary only implementations) by a number of companies (IBM
>/Visual Age, Rational and Qnx).
>
>What I like :
> I should say that I normally don't like your average IDE, in
> particular the
>Java ones. They've all been fairly slow and more designed for GUIs with no
>integration with any of the other tools that I normally use (ant, JUnit).
>
> Before Eclipse I was both a Vi and JCreator user (well I still
> use Vi, even
>on Windows, for some stuff ;). I flirted with Emacs' Java stuff, but it
>never took.
>
> The overall work environment is a bit confusing but incredibly
> flexible
>(considering I work for WebCT, I should be used to such a system ;).
>
> However these elements really rocked my world:
> 1 -- Great integration with CVS (we use CVS internally)--
> You can check
>out, compare files between local & remote, merge, commit/update all within
>Eclipse, the CVS repository treated just as if the files are local (well
>they are local, but you don't have to open any other box to do work with
>them). It uses simple icons to denote the files are from CVS and whether
>they are need of commitment & CVS version numbers
>
> 2 -- Ant support -- You right click on your build file.
> Choose run Ant. It
>then parses the build file, presenting you with all of your targets. You
>then click the order you want the targets to run (and you can pass command
>line variables to ant)
>
> 3 -- Easy add try/catch -- I just discovered this. I'm
> sure I'm not the
>only one who's had this happen to them -- You write some code, go to compile
>& find out you're missing a try/catch statement. Sure you can manually do
>this but it's a pain the rear, hell on formatting and worse -- you're
>tempted to do /catch Exception. In Eclipse - select the offensive code (with
>no try/catch) & right mouse click -- choose try/catch. It puts the try/catch
>in with catch containing the proper catch exceptions -- all you have to do
>is put in your handler code.
>
> 4 -- Keeps track of compilation errors & warnings (again
> with visual cues)
>
> 5 -- JUnit support -- not sure what it contains, while I
> use JUnit in
>WebCT, I use it from ant
>
> It also has other standard features like code completion,
> AM/FM/CD Stereo
>and driver/passenger side airbags :).
>
> What I don't like:
> Uses lots of memory (But then what I'm working on is very
> large, I don't
>think it's that bad on more reasonable projects)
> A bit flaky at times (but then it's still in beta ;) &
> it's a lot less
>flaky than any of the other java based IDEs
>
>
> Would like to see Poseidon UML to integrate with it (supposedly
> in the
>works) like it does with Forte. I'm not sure if UML is required before
>building, but I find it invaluable when trying to get a big picture of the
>project. I really like Together's ability to generate UML graphics with
>Javadoc, something I believe Poseidon does now with one of their plugins.
>While Poseidon isn't free (at least the version that has the plugins,
>community edition is free), it's still a lot cheaper than others.
>
> Also would like to see a JSP editor built in (or a relatively cheap
>plugin).
>
>Basically Eclipse does what I want the IDE to do -- make my life easier
>without making me feel like an idiot or getting in my way (i.e. no wizards).
>
>Since I can't really do much work directly on the portal, thought I'd at
>least let you know from the front-lines on tools that can make your life
>easier.
>
>Mark
>
>****************************
>To Unsubscribe from this list send a blank message to:
>jasig-portal-l-signoff-request@unm.edu or click on the following link:
>mailto:jasig-portal-l-signoff-request@unm.edu
>**************************** (02)