Apache Jakarta and Beyond: A Java Programmer’s Introduction

Chapter 3. Eclipse

It is certainly possible to write Java programs using nothing more than the JDK and “vi” on Unix or “notepad” on Windows, but doing so is a rather arduous process. While most readers are likely familiar with the development process, it is worth listing the steps in some detail to discover where the inefficiencies lie. To that end, consider a typical development session using only an editor and the JDK:

1. Code is written in the editor.

2. The editor is suspended, or focus moved to another window, and javac is run.

3. Numerous errors will likely be produced, such as syntactic errors like missing semicolons or braces, semantic errors like incorrect types, and missing or mistyped classes and methods.

4. The editor is resumed, and one by one a ...