18.3. Update Sites

After you have created a feature and provided a unifying structure and brand identity to your plug-ins, you need to deliver your feature to users. While you can package a feature as a compressed ZIP file or create your own installer (using InstallShield or something similar), Eclipse provides an attractive Web-based alternative that can manage the delivery, installation, and eventual updating of your feature.

An Eclipse update site is a specially constructed Web site designed to host your features and plug-ins (packaged as JAR files) and describe them with a special site manifest file (the site.xml file). The Eclipse Update Manager can read this site manifest file and automatically load and install any updates (or new products) that it finds.