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Eclipse in Action

Posted by timothy on from the bring-welder's-goggles dept.

Simon P. Chappell writes "The Eclipse IDE has thundered into the collective consciousness of Java developers since its release by IBM as Open Source Software. Up until this time, the majority of available documentation at the Eclipse website has been for plug-in developers, with scant attention given to the rest of us that actually want to use the tool for anything else. This book restores the balance and brings much needed help to those interested in this IDE." Read on for the rest of Simon's review, about which he says "Full Disclosure: I received a free, review copy of this book, so feel free to assume that I've been bought off and have traded my technical integrity to put about an inch of dead tree on my shelf." Eclipse in Action author Gallardo, Burnette and McGovern pages 383 (15 page index) publisher Manning rating 8 reviewer Simon P. Chappell ISBN 1930110960 summary A good book that lives up to its name.

Overview With a book like this it's difficult to know where to pitch the level. Do you aim for the lowest common denominator or do you assume some experience on the part of your reader? This book seems to have pitched itself well, not pandering to the absolute Java newbie, not afraid to get down into the code and yet gentle enough that newer Java developers can follow easily. The heavyweight chapter on writing plug-ins is at the back where it shouldn't frighten those of a sensitive nature.

The book is divided into two sections. The first and largest section concerns actual use of Eclipse during Java application development. The second section is for those who wish to write plug-ins for Eclipse.

The book takes a very 'Test Driven Development' approach to Java development and this shows in the manner that Eclipse is presented and taught. Emphasis is given to the tools that come with Eclipse, especially Ant, Junit and the CVS client. For those already skilled in these tools, this might seem like filler, but remember that there are still pitifully few Java developers using even these simple and free tools. My hat is off to the authors for their TDD evangelism, skillfully disguised as Eclipse usage instruction.

What's To Like I liked the progression followed in the book, first teaching the basic operation of Eclipse and then moving on to the tools that come with the base install. What's To Consider Some may consider that the material on Ant, Junit and CVS is filler. The 'Test Driven Development' theme may be a little too much evangelism for some.

I use Eclipse on a Mac OS X box and I felt that there was very little discussion concerning the cross-platform attributes of the tool. All of the screenshots were from a Microsoft Windows build of the software; a Linux or OS X screenshot would have been helpful.

One more niggle and then I'm done. There is no information on using Eclipse with other programming languages (a couple of paragraphs in the introduction chapter doesn't really count). I've recently started tinkering with Ruby and have used a Ruby plug-in to allow me to work within Eclipse as I learn the language. This is a wonderful testament to the power and extensibility of Eclipse.

Summary This is a good book. You know it's a good book when you already use the tool (both pure Eclipse and IBM's WSAD) regularly and you find yourself learning things that you had not previously been aware of. If you are working with Java and want a good free IDE that's going to grow with you, then Eclipse is a tool you should try -- and consider this book the User's Guide that would have been in the box if Eclipse came shrink-wrapped.

Table Of Contents
  1. Using Eclipse
    1. Overview
    2. Getting started with the Eclipse Workbench
    3. The Java development cycle: test, code, repeat
    4. Working with source code in eclipse
    5. Building with Ant
    6. Source control with CVS
    7. Web development tools
  3. Extending Eclipse
    1. Introduction to Eclipse plug-ins
    2. Working with plug-ins in Eclipse

You can purchase Eclipse in Action from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

11 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. I humbly bow to your FP l33tne$$! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Love Always,
    News For Turds

  2. Not quite on topic but.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I found out this morning that *BSD committed suicide in his apartment in Chicago, around 5:00am CST. Funeral arrangements are being made, and you can check it out on the *BSD homepages.

  3. modded? by sap.de · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Wan't to send me a free copy and we can compare reviews ?? Eclipse rocks ! A detailed guide of what I should know would be good ;-)

  4. CONFIRMED: I just shat all over myself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I can't believe I just took a shit in my pants at work. What the fuck? I cant stand up and take it to the restroom, because I am wading in a puddle of feces at this very moment. Any change in my seating position will send my poo spilling down my legs and into my socks and shoes. There is no way I can play this off as a fart. It doesn't help at all that I've been spun out for 3 days. I can hardly see straight! How am I possibly going to explain this to my Supervisor when she comes over here to ask me what the fuck I just did in the presence of my employer? She'll make me drop trau in front of everyone again. There it is. The person in the cubicle to the right of me just asked if I could smell "that". I gotta go.

  5. Re:Why is Open Source so RACIST? by ebuck · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Are you kidding? Developers hardly associate with other developers, even on the same project.

  6. Here I am. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    After two hours, I'm still downloading Redhat 7^H9.1 alpha. Bittorrent be damned! For the tracker is DOS'd! Now having to download it over an afgani mirror over a 300bps modem. See you next Christmas when I finnished.

  7. Re:CONFIRMED: I just shat all over myself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Michael? is that you? OMG

  8. ROTFLMAO HAHAHA LOL HAHAHAAAAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I'm going to change pants now.

  9. Re:My experiences with Eclipse. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Hahaha

    Linux is written in C, which is bragable.

    Too bad the code was stolen, huh?

  10. HAHA, GNAA IS LATE LATE LATE. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Have fun... subject says it all.

  11. I apologise for the parent post. by Dthoma · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    My account appears to have been broken into. Sorry for the inconvenience.

    --

    Note to M1-ers: a curt but otherwise insightful message is not "Flamebait" or "Troll".