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Information about Eclipse (computing)

Eclipse

Eclipse 3.0.2 with the Visual Editor plug-in
Developer:Eclipse Foundation
Latest release:3.3.1 / September 24 2007
OS:Cross-platform
Available language(s):Multilingual
Genre:Software development
License:Eclipse Public License
Website:[1]


Eclipse is an open-source software framework written primarily in Java. In its default form it is a Java IDE, consisting of the Java Development Tools (JDT) and compiler (ECJ). Users can extend its capabilities by installing plug-ins written for the Eclipse software framework, such as development toolkits for other programming languages, and can write and contribute their own plug-in modules. Language packs are available for over a dozen languages.[1]

Architecture

The basis for Eclipse is the Rich Client Platform (RCP). The following components constitute the rich client platform: Eclipse's widgets are implemented by 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 leverages an intermediate GUI layer called JFace, which simplifies the construction of applications based on SWT.

Eclipse employs plug-ins in order to provide all of its functionality on top of (and including) the rich client platform, in contrast to some other applications where functionality is typically hard coded. This plug-in mechanism is a lightweight software componentry framework. In addition to allowing Eclipse to be extended using other programming languages such as C and Python, the plug-in framework allows Eclipse to work with typesetting languages like LaTeX,[2] 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. It does not have to be used solely to support other programming languages.

The Eclipse SDK includes the Eclipse Java Development Tools, 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. The Visual Editor project allows interfaces to be created interactively, hence allowing Eclipse to be used as a RAD tool.

History

Eclipse began as an IBM Canada project. It was developed by OTI (Object Technology International) as a replacement for VisualAge, which itself had been developed by OTI. In November 2001, a consortium was formed to further the development of Eclipse as open source. In 2003, the Eclipse Foundation was created.

Eclipse 3.0 (released in 2004) selected the OSGi Service Platform specifications as the runtime architecture.

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).[3] Mike Milinkovich, of the Eclipse Foundation has commented that moving to the GPL will be considered when version 3 of the GPL is released.[4]

Simultaneous Releases

Since 2006, the Eclipse Foundation has coordinated an annual Simultaneous Release. Each release includes the Eclipse Platform as well as a number of other Eclipse projects. The purpose is to provide a distribution of Eclipse software with static features and versions. Ostensibly, this simplifies deployment and maintenance for enterprise systems, and others may simply find it convenient. So far, each Simultaneous Release has been named after a moon of Jupiter, and has occurred at the end of June.

Release Date Platform version Projects
CallistoJune 30, 20063.2Callisto projects
EuropaJune 29, 20073.3
Ganymedeplanned for June 20083.4

See also

Footnotes

1. ^ [2]
2. ^ [3]
3. ^ Various Licenses and Comments about Them. Free Software Foundation (2007-05-17). Retrieved on 2007-05-20.
4. ^ Peter Galli (2005-11-02). Moglen: GPL 3.0 Rewrite Drive Is No Democracy. eWeek. Retrieved on 2007-05-20.

References

External links

Software development is the translation of a user need or marketing goal into a software product.[1][2] Software development is sometimes understood to encompass the processes of software engineering combined with the research and goals of software marketing
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The Eclipse Foundation leads the development of Eclipse, the open-source Java application platform and IDE.

History

In 2003–2004 the Eclipse Consortium, an unofficial consortium of software industry vendors led by IBM, founded The Eclipse Foundation, a not-for-profit
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Code complete redirects here. For the Microsoft book, see Code Complete.

A software release is the distribution, whether public or private, of an initial or new and upgraded version of a computer software product.
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September 24 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

  • 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina.

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20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
2004 2005 2006 - 2007 - 2008 2009 2010

2007 by topic:
News by month
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
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An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer. An operating system processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources as a service to users and programs of the
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Cross-platform is a term which can refer to computer programs, operating systems, computer languages, programming languages, or other computer software and their implementations which can be made to work on multiple computer platforms.
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In the philosophy of language, a natural language (or ordinary language) is a language that is spoken, written, or signed (visually or tactilely) by humans for general-purpose communication, as distinguished from formal languages (such as computer-programming
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Computer software can be organized into categories based on common function, type, or field of use. A list follows of common software categories.

Categories of software

  • Applications

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Software development is the translation of a user need or marketing goal into a software product.[1][2] Software development is sometimes understood to encompass the processes of software engineering combined with the research and goals of software marketing
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A software license comprises the permissions, rights and restrictions imposed on software (whether a component or a free-standing program). Use of software without a license could constitute infringement of the owner's exclusive rights under copyright or, occasionally, patent law
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Eclipse Public License
Author: Eclipse Foundation
Version: 1.0
Copyright on the license: Public Domain
Publication date: ?
OSI approved: Yes
Debian approved: ?
Free Software: Yes
FSF says GPL compatible:
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A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN.
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Open source software is computer software which source code is available under a license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that meets the Open source definition. This permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified
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A software framework is a reusable design for a software system (or subsystem). This is expressed as a set of abstract classes and the way their instances collaborate for a specific type of software.[1][2] Software frameworks can be object-oriented designs.
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Java

Paradigm: Object-oriented, structured, imperative
Appeared in: 1995
Designed by: Sun Microsystems
Typing discipline: Static, strong, safe, nominative
Major implementations: Numerous
Influenced by: Objective-C, C++, Smalltalk, Eiffel,[1]
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integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of a source code editor, a compiler and/or interpreter, build automation tools, and (usually)
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A Rich Client Platform (RCP) is a piece of software consisting of the following components:
  • a core;
  • a standard bundling framework;
  • a portable widget toolkit;
  • file buffers, text handling, text editors;
  • a workbench (views, editors, perspectives, wizards);

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For the term plug in, see
  • Plugin, an auxiliary computer program.
  • Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
  • Plugging in (algebra), a mathematical procedure in which substitutions are made in a formula.

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OSGi Alliance (formerly known as the Open Services Gateway initiative - now an obsolete name) is an open standards organization founded in March 1999. The Alliance and its members have specified a Java-based service platform that can be remotely managed.
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Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) is a graphical widget toolkit for the Java platform originally developed by IBM and maintained now by the Eclipse Foundation in tandem with the Eclipse IDE.
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A widget toolkit, widget library, or GUI toolkit is a set of generic widgets for use in designing graphical user interfaces. Widgets that are part of a toolkit typically adhere to a unified design specification, including aesthetics and possibly an application
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JFace is defined by the Eclipse project as "a UI toolkit that provides helper classes for developing UI features that can be tedious to implement."[1] It is a layer that sits on top of the raw widget system, and provides classes for handling common UI programming tasks.
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widget (or control) is an interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box. Widgets are sometimes qualified as virtual to distinguish them from their physical counterparts, e.g.
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Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) is a graphical widget toolkit for the Java platform originally developed by IBM and maintained now by the Eclipse Foundation in tandem with the Eclipse IDE.
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The Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) is Java's original platform-independent windowing, graphics, and user-interface widget toolkit. The AWT is now part of the Java Foundation Classes (JFC) — the standard API for providing a graphical user interface (GUI) for a Java program.
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Swing is a widget toolkit for Java. It is part of Sun Microsystems' Java Foundation Classes (JFC) — an API for providing a graphical user interface (GUI) for Java programs. Swing includes GUI widgets such as text boxes, buttons, split-panes, and tables.
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graphical user interface (GUI) is a type of user interface which allows people to interact with a computer and computer-controlled devices which employ graphical icons, visual indicators or special graphical elements called "widgets", along with text, labels or text
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JFace is defined by the Eclipse project as "a UI toolkit that provides helper classes for developing UI features that can be tedious to implement."[1] It is a layer that sits on top of the raw widget system, and provides classes for handling common UI programming tasks.
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To hard code or hard coding (also, hard-code/hard-coding, hardcode/hardcoding) refers to the software development practice of embedding input or configuration data directly into the source code of a program or other executable object, or fixed
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