Eclipse: Step by Step

Eclipse is in your future! Whether you’re an OO Guru, a Java neophyte, or a professional business programmer, there’s a good chance that you will be using Eclipse some day soon. IBM spent millions of dollars on Eclipse before releasing it into the Open Source community, and you can take advantage of all of that development. But how do you get started?

The hardest part in learning a new language or a new tool is the beginning steps. And with Open Source software, sometimes you don’t even know enough to know what questions to ask. If you are new to Java, you may not know a JDK from a JRE from a JAR. And it can take months to learn, because there are few training manuals. Open Source doesn’t come with a nice binder and a jewel case CD; first you have to know what you need, then you have to search to find all the software, then struggle through less than complete installation documentation and online “FAQs”. Even the tutorials make assumptions about your experience.

And that’s where Eclipse: Step by Step is different. It brings together all the pieces for you… think of it as training wheels for Eclipse. The book includes all required software on the handy included CD, as well as detailed installation and configuration instructions. Nothing is taken for granted–-by the end of this book, you will have written a complete, working application, and will know all the basics that will allow you to continue at your own pace. Tutorials will actually teach you things now, and FAQs will answer questions that you can understand.

You will be able to use this book even if your only knowledge of Java is how to spell it. However, that doesn’t mean that Java programmers won’t benefit! Even experienced developers can make use of this book, since it will cover three areas that are of crucial interest these days: Eclipse, IBM’s Software Widget Toolkit (the SWT), and JDBC. If you’ve wanted to see a working application using any of those technologies, then this book is for you.

Each step has a checklist of tasks to perform, and each task is meticulously documented with screen shots and editorial comments. Nothing is assumed, nothing left to your imagination. There is no magic in programming, except maybe knowing where to start, and that’s where this book comes in. Once you’ve finished it you will understand the subjects well enough to continue learning more on your own.

This isn’t a 600-page reference manual. You won’t just learn the names of classes and methods, or see a list of every menu option along with a brief description. There are no filler examples without context. Instead of learning how to draw a square or animate a cartoon figure, with this book you will create, from scratch, a real business application. And I do mean from scratch: this book will show you where to get the software, how to install it, how to configure it. It will then focus on those options that you would use in a real production environment – options that will quickly allow you to be productive in Eclipse. It will show you in a real world environment what steps you would need to take to create a program from scratch, or modify someone else’s. Our unique approach is the shortest distance between you and productive Eclipse development.

Written by application developers for applications developers, this book will teach you:
   • How to use the new Eclipse Integrated Development Environment
   • IBM’s Software Widget Toolkit (the SWT) and JDBC
   • How to create a complete functioning application with Eclipse
   • Where to get the software, how to install it, how to configure it
   • Options that you would use in a real production to be instantly productive in Eclipse
   • What steps you would need to take to create a program or modify an existing program



Joe Pluta has designed distributed architectures for the midrange platform for more than 20 years. His company, Pluta Brothers Design, develops tools that let iSeries users incorporate emerging technologies seamlessly into their legacy systems, providing a direct path to new architectures.

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Joe Pluta