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Eclipse (software)

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For other uses of "Eclipse", see Eclipse (disambiguation).
Eclipse
Developer(s)Eclipse Foundation
Stable release
4.3 (Kepler) / 26 June 2013; 11 years ago (2013-06-26)
Repository
Written inJava[1]
Operating systemCross-platform: Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, Windows
PlatformJava SE, Standard Widget Toolkit
Available inMultilingual
TypeIntegrated development environment (IDE)
LicenseEclipse Public License
Websitewww.eclipse.org

In computer programming, Eclipse is a multi-language Integrated development environment (IDE) 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, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, R, Ruby (including Ruby on Rails framework), Scala, Clojure, Groovy, Scheme, and Erlang. It can also be used to develop packages for the software Mathematica. Development environments include the Eclipse Java development tools (JDT) for Java and Scala, Eclipse CDT for C/C++ and Eclipse PDT for PHP, among others.

The initial codebase originated from IBM VisualAge.[2] The Eclipse software development kit (SDK), which includes the Java development tools, is meant for Java developers. Users can extend its abilities by installing plug-ins written for the Eclipse Platform, such as development toolkits for other programming languages, and can write and contribute their own plug-in modules.

Released under the terms of the Eclipse Public License, Eclipse SDK is free and open source software (although it is incompatible with the GNU General Public License[3]). It was one of the first IDEs to run under GNU Classpath and it runs without problems under IcedTea.

History

Eclipse began as an IBM Canada project. Object Technology International (OTI), which had previously marketed the Smalltalk-based VisualAge family of integrated development environment (IDE) products,[2] developed the new product as a Java-based replacement.[4] In November 2001, a consortium was formed with a board of stewards to further the development of Eclipse as open-source software. The original members were Borland, IBM, Merant, QNX Software Systems, Rational Software, Red Hat, SuSE, TogetherSoft and WebGain.[5] The number of stewards increased to over 80 by the end of 2003. In January 2004, the Eclipse Foundation was created.[6]

Eclipse 3.0 (released on 21 June 2004) selected the OSGi Service Platform specifications as the runtime architecture.[7]

The Association for Computing Machinery recognized Eclipse with the 2011 ACM Software Systems Award on 26 April 2012.[8]

Licensing

The Eclipse Public License (EPL) is the fundamental license under which Eclipse projects are released.[9] Some projects require dual licensing, for which the Eclipse Distribution License (EDL) is available, although use of this license must be applied for and is considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Eclipse was originally released under the Common Public License, but was later relicensed under the Eclipse Public License. The Free Software Foundation has said that both licenses are free software licenses, but are incompatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL).[10] Mike Milinkovich, of the Eclipse Foundation commented that moving to the GPL would be considered when version 3 of the GPL was released.[11]

Name

According to Lee Nackman, Chief Technology Officer of IBM's Rational division (originating in 2003) at that time, the name "Eclipse" (dating from at least 2001) was not a wordplay on Sun Microsystems, as the product's primary competition at the time of naming was Microsoft Visual Studio.[12]

Releases

Since 2006, the Foundation has coordinated an annual Simultaneous Release. Each release includes the Eclipse Platform as well as a number of other Eclipse projects.

So far, each Simultaneous Release has occurred on the fourth Wednesday of June.

Codename Date Platform version Projects
N/A 21 June 2004 Old version, no longer maintained: 3.0 [13]
N/A 28 June 2005 Old version, no longer maintained: 3.1
Callisto 30 June 2006 Old version, no longer maintained: 3.2 Callisto projects
Europa 29 June 2007 Old version, no longer maintained: 3.3 Europa projects
Ganymede 25 June 2008 Old version, no longer maintained: 3.4 Ganymede projects
Galileo 24 June 2009 Old version, no longer maintained: 3.5 Galileo projects
Helios 23 June 2010 Old version, yet still maintained: 3.6 Helios projects
Indigo 22 June 2011 Old version, yet still maintained: 3.7[Notes 1] Indigo projects
Juno 27 June 2012 Old version, yet still maintained: 4.2 [14] Juno projects
Kepler 26 June 2013 Current stable version: 4.3 Kepler projects
Luna 25 June 2014 (planned) Future release: 4.4 Luna projects
Legend:
Old version, not maintained
Old version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release
  1. ^ There is also a 3.8 release of Eclipse, but it is not promoted anywhere on their web site, directing interested users to 4.2. Eclipse 3.8 provides bugfixes for Indigo & adds Java 7 support, but is not a 'packaged distribution' release, and will not be maintained after 4.3 "Kepler" is released. Features and plugins equivalent to a packaged distribution may be added from within the IDE.

Architecture

The Eclipse Platform uses plug-ins to provide all functionality within and on top of the runtime system, in contrast to some other applications, in which functionality is hard coded. The Eclipse Platform's runtime system is based on Equinox, an implementation of the OSGi core framework specification.

This plug-in mechanism is a lightweight software componentry framework. In addition to allowing the Eclipse Platform to be extended using other programming languages such as C and Python, the plug-in framework allows the Eclipse Platform to work with typesetting languages like LaTeX,[15] networking applications such as telnet and database management systems. The plug-in architecture supports writing any desired extension to the environment, such as for configuration management. Java and CVS support is provided in the Eclipse SDK, with support for other version control systems provided by third-party plug-ins.

With the exception of a small run-time kernel, everything in Eclipse is a plug-in. This means that every plug-in developed integrates with Eclipse in exactly the same way as other plug-ins; in this respect, all features are "created equal".[citation needed] Eclipse provides plug-ins for a wide variety of features, some of which are through third parties using both free and commercial models. Examples of plug-ins include a UML plug-in for Sequence and other UML diagrams, a plug-in for DB Explorer, and many others.

The Eclipse SDK includes the Eclipse Java development tools (JDT), offering an IDE with a built-in incremental Java compiler and a full model of the Java source files. This allows for advanced refactoring techniques and code analysis. The IDE also makes use of a workspace, in this case a set of metadata over a flat filespace allowing external file modifications as long as the corresponding workspace "resource" is refreshed afterwards.

Eclipse implements widgets through a widget toolkit for Java called SWT, unlike most Java applications, which use the Java standard Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) or Swing. Eclipse's user interface also uses an intermediate graphical user interface layer called JFace, which simplifies the construction of applications based on SWT.

Language packs developing by the "Babel project" provide translations into over a dozen natural languages.[16]

Rich Client Platform

Eclipse provides the Rich Client Platform (RCP) for developing general purpose applications. The following components constitute the rich client platform:

Examples of rich client applications based on Eclipse are:

Server platform

Eclipse supports development for Tomcat, GlassFish and many other servers and is often capable of installing the required server (for development) directly from the IDE. It supports remote debugging, allowing the user to watch variables and step through the code of an application that is running on the attached server.

Web Tools Platform

The Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP) project is an extension of the Eclipse platform with tools for developing Web and Java EE applications. It includes source and graphical editors for a variety of languages, wizards and built-in applications to simplify development, and tools and APIs to support deploying, running, and testing apps.[17]

Modeling Platform

The Modeling project contains all the official projects of the Eclipse Foundation focusing on model-based development technologies. They are all compatible with the Eclipse Modeling Framework created by IBM. Those projects are separated in several categories: Model Transformation, Model Development Tools, Concrete Syntax Development, Abstract Syntax Development, Technology and Research, and Amalgam.

Model Transformation

Model Transformation projects uses EMF based models as an input and produce either a model or text as an output. Model to model transformation projects includes ATL, an open source transformation language and toolkit used to transform a given model or to generate a new model from a given EMF model. Model to text transformation projects contains Acceleo, an implementation of MOFM2T, a standard model to text language from the OMG. Acceleo is an open source code generator that can generate any textual language (Java, PHP, Python, etc.) from EMF based models defined with any metamodel (UML, SysML, etc.).

Model Development Tools

Model Development Tools projects are implementations of modeling standard used in the industry like UML or OCL and their toolkit. Among those projects can be found implementation of the following standard:

Concrete Syntax Development

The Concrete Syntax Development project contains the Graphical Modeling Framework, an Eclipse based framework dedicated to the graphical representation of EMF based models.

Abstract Syntax Development

The Abstract Syntax Development project hosts the Eclipse Modeling Framework, core of most of the modeling project of the Eclipse Foundation and the framework available for EMF like CDO, EMF query or EMF validation.

Technology and Research

Technology and Research projects are prototypes of Modeling project, this project is used to host all the modeling projects of the Eclipse Foundation during their incubation phase.

Amalgam

Amalgam provides the packaging and integration between all the available modeling tools for the Eclipse package dedicated to modeling tools.

Extensions

Eclipse supports a rich selection of extensions, adding support for Python via pydev, Android development via Google's ADT, JavaFX support via e(fx)clipse, and many others at the Eclipse Marketplace.

Alternative Distributions

A number of alternative distributions exist in the Eclipse project.

Eclipse PDT (PHP Development Tools)

The PHP Development Tools project provides a PHP Development Tools framework for the Eclipse platform. The project encompasses all development components, including code-completion, develop PHP and facilitate extensibility. It leverages the existing Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP)[18] and Dynamic Languages Toolkit (DLTK).[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Lextrait, Vincent (2010). "The Programming Languages Beacon, v10.3". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b "Where did Eclipse come from?". Eclipse Wiki. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  3. ^ Free Software Foundation, Inc. (5 November 2012). "Various Licenses and Comments About Them".
  4. ^ Rick DeNatale (15 October 2008). "Will It Go Round in Circles?".
  5. ^ About the Eclipse Foundation:History of Eclipse
  6. ^ "About the Eclipse Foundation". The Eclipse Foundation. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  7. ^ "OSGi — the footings of the foundation of the platform". The Eclipse Foundation. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  8. ^ "ACM Honors Computing Innovators for Advances in Research, Education, and Industry". Association for Computing Machinery. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  9. ^ "Eclipse Public License". Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  10. ^ "Various Licenses and Comments about Them". Free Software Foundation. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2007.
  11. ^ Peter Galli (2 November 2005). "Moglen: GPL 3.0 Rewrite Drive Is No Democracy". eWeek. Retrieved 20 May 2007.
  12. ^ Darryl K. Taft (20 May 2005). "Eclipse: Behind the Name". eWeek.com. Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  13. ^ "Eclipse Foundation". Eclipse.org. 21 June 2004. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  14. ^ "Eclipse Juno Release Train Has Arrived". Eclipse.org. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  15. ^ TeXlipse homepage – LaTeX for Eclipse
  16. ^ Eclipse Babel Project
  17. ^ "Eclipse Web Tools Platform Project". http://eclipse.org/: Eclipse. Retrieved 2 May 2011. The Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP) project extends the Eclipse platform with tools for developing Web and Java EE applications. It includes source and graphical editors for a variety of languages, wizards and built-in applications to simplify development, tools to support deploying, running, and testing apps, and APIs for extending its functionality. {{cite web}}: External link in |location= (help)
  18. ^ Web Tools Platform
  19. ^ Eclipse PDT

Further reading

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eclipse IDE.
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Eclipse

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