This book is aimed at Java developers who are interested in learning how to create plug-ins, products, and applications for the Eclipse platform. The book starts with how to install and use Eclipse to build and debug plug-ins, covers different types of user interfaces, and finishes with how to create update sites and build and test plug-ins automatically.
This book will also be useful to those who already have some experience in building Eclipse plug-ins and want to know how to create automated builds using Maven Tycho, which has become the de-facto standard for building Eclipse plug-ins.
Finally, those Eclipse developers who are familiar with the Eclipse 3.x model but are interested in learning about the changes that the Eclipse 4.x model brings will find the information presented in Chapter 7, Understanding the Eclipse 4 Model a useful summary of what opportunities the new model provides.
Note
E4: In this book, both the Eclipse 3.x and Eclipse 4.x models are covered. The Eclipse 4 platform contains a backwards-compatible runtime for the Eclipse 3.x APIs. Where the Eclipse 3.x APIs differ from the Eclipse 4.x APIs, the icon E4 will be used to call out a difference. A full explanation of the Eclipse 4 concepts will be covered in Chapter 7, Understanding the Eclipse 4 Model; so the E4 notes can be skipped on the first reading if necessary.
If you are developing an Eclipse IDE-based plug-in, you should consider using the Eclipse 3.x APIs, as these will work in both older Eclipse instances, as well as newer ones. If you are developing an Eclipse RCP-based application and do not need to support older versions, consider building an Eclipse 4-based application. Future versions of the Eclipse platform (4.4/Luna and afterwards) will make it possible to use some of the Eclipse 4 APIs in the IDE.