Java programmers know how finicky Java can be to work with. An omitted semi-colon or the slightest typo will cause the Java command-line compiler to spew pages of annoying error messages across your screen. And it doesn't fix them--that's up to you: fix them, compile again, and hope that nothing goes wrong this time. Eclipse, the popular Java integrated development environment (IDE) provides an elegant and powerful remedy for this common, frustrating scenario. It doesn't just catch your errors before you compile, it also suggests solutions. All you need to do is point and click. And it's free--what could be better? Still, if you're like most programmers, mastering a new technology--no matter how productive it will make you in the long run--is going to take a chunk out of your productivity now. You want to get up to speed quickly without sacrificing efficiency. O'Reilly's new guide to the technology, Eclipse, provides exactly what you're looking for: a fast-track approach to mastery of Eclipse. This insightful, hands-on book delivers clear and concise coverage, with no fluff, that gets down to business immediately. The book is tightly focused, covering all aspects of Eclipse: the menus, preferences, views, perspectives, editors, team and debugging techniques, and how they're used every day by thousands of developers. Development of practical skills is emphasized with dozens of examples presented throughout the book. From cover-to-cover, the book is pure Eclipse, covering hundreds of techniques beginning with the most basic Java development through creating your own plug-in editors for the Eclipse environment. Some of the topics you'll learn about include:

• Using Eclipse to develop Java code

• Testing and debugging

• Working in teams using CVS

• Building Eclipse projects using Ant

• The Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT)

• Web development

• Developing Struts applications with Eclipse

From basics to advanced topics, Eclipse takes you through the fundamentals of Eclipse and more. You may be an Eclipse novice when you pick up the book, but you'll be a pro by the time you've finished.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 25 Ratings

Don't buy this book to learn Eclipse - 2009-08-13
Reviewer Rating:
The first 3 chapters were quite good. It might be a good book if it was updated. There have been many changes since Eclipse 3.0 and the screens are different. Some of the stuff I could figure out and was stuck after that. Even the programming examples are outdated. You have to spend way too much time debugging their Java examples to try to learn Eclipse. Don't waste your time on this book! There are better free tutorials on the web.

Eclipse/OReilly - book review - 2008-11-30
Reviewer Rating:
Outstanding book, right to the point on installation, configuration, adding plugins and integration of other products like tortoise or CVS.

I highly recommend. Check the version you are or will be running and which version the book covers.

Ok book - 2008-10-30
Reviewer Rating:
I agree with most of the other reviews the book is a little disjointed but it does a better job of explaining Eclipse than the confusing on-line documentation. However I was a very disappointed that it did not cover any of the CDT (the C/C++ development tool) which in my opinion is just as important as the JDT (Java development tool) I switched to eclipse in order to have a common cross platform editor for Linux/Windows/OSX and I also wanted that for cross language development but the CDT was never touched upon.. grumble grumble...

Eclipse, by Steve Holzner - 2008-08-27
Reviewer Rating:
I found this book very helpful in navigating through Eclipse. Be sure to check which version of Eclipse you have; there are differences that can lead to confusion for first time users.

Interesting starting point but perhaps needs update - 2008-08-24
Reviewer Rating:
I stumbled onto Eclipse from a very unorthodox path. In my concurrent Java programming unit I continued to have problem in getting students to address all issues of import in their assignments. I thought that I should write a progressive series of programs to address one issue at a time. In class we were relying on command line compilation and execution of the Java programs.

To develop Java programs, I downloaded Eclipse IDE and started to write programs one project for each set of progressed specifications. Soon I had some 10 projects with 10 sets of codes. Eclipse was great, it allowed me to debug and see activities even in multi-threaded execution of programs. However, I wanted to have some transition among my 10 projects to be smooth. I wanted to use consistent interfaces, shared code for classes and comments. I wanted to learn more on refactoring functionality of the IDE. I bought the book to fill this goal.

Have not found much to help my goal but the book has exposed me GUI builder ideas V4ALL. But this project seem to be already gone. SWT was also a new exposure. I have not yet explored it but would it be acceptable replacement for Swing for a university course?

Over all the book is nice and easy introduction to using Eclipse IDE but much of what it introduces can easily be learned from the Eclipse help, tutorials and commonsense. It is time that the author be magnanimous and put the book on Web for all Eclipse beginners to read and adapt the tool. Good book but I am not sure if I can ask my students to spend money on purchasing a copy. An update to reflect the current state of the IDE would also be welcome.

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