Eclipse Rich Client Platform: Designing, Coding, And Packaging Java Applications

by Jeff McAffer, Jean-Michel Lemieux

Eclipse, a platform for building applications, was originally aimed at Web application and image manipulation. With the release of Eclipse 3.0 there has been a shift to the use of Eclipse as a Rich Client Platform (RCP). In other words, using Eclipse as a base for everyday generic applications from media players to productivity and desktop applications. Thinking of Eclipse as not just an IDE but a platform for all application building is an evolution for the platform and significantly extends its reach to developers. In this book the designers of Eclipse as an RCP introduces the reader to the RCP concept and walks them through a set of scenarios and examples using Eclipse to solve real world, application problems. This will appeal to all developers who want to develop and deploy world-class applications with rich, native GUIs. Development areas that are already using Eclipse RCP include bio-medical, embedded technology (handhelds, etc), enterprise and productivity applications and banking.

Genres: Programming, Nonfiction

504 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2005

Reviews

[RorSpike · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not friendly for beginners.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of information that you need to be aware of to build RCP applications. I didn't find it particularly engaging to read, and unclear in parts. I didn't like the way they introduced deprecated or non-preferred ways of doing things before the preferred ways in a few places. Why waste the readers time? I thought the use of screen captures of the eclipse outline view to show the methods of various API classes was just lazy - that's text, and would have been easier to view in electronic form if presented as such.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

When making RCP applications, this is a must have desk reference.

Its a bit lacking in some detail here and there, but its the best of the bunch.

RCP can be a complicated topic due to a fairly Byzantine class structure, hence be prepared to draw from a number of different sources in order to make progress, and this should definitely be one of them.