Eclipse

Chapter 13. Eclipse 3.0

Eclipse 3.0 is on the way, and we’ll get a look at what’s coming in this chapter. As of this writing, 3.0 is still in beta version.

Tip

This chapter is going to use the most recent beta of Eclipse 3.0, milestone build 6. Eclipse 3.0 is being designed to be as compatible as possible with Versions 2.0 and 2.1, and the update team says, “We will provide a comprehensive Eclipse 3.0 Porting Guide that covers all areas of breaking API changes, and describes how to port existing 2.1 plug-ins to 3.0.” You’ll also be able to import 2.0 and 2.1 projects into 3.0, but you’ll get a dialog saying that the project needs to be modified and probably won’t work with earlier versions after that, so make sure you copy your projects first.

A Look at Eclipse 3.0

At this point, Eclipse 3.0 looks a lot like Eclipse 2.1, as you can see in Figure 13-1.

Figure 13-1. The current build of Eclipse 3.0

As we’re going to see, some new buttons, menu choices, and views have appeared, but fundamentally, Eclipse 2.0 users will have no difficulty slipping right into this new version of Eclipse.

Tip

On the other hand, the Eclipse team has been experimenting with the look of views, editors, and perspectives in Eclipse 3.0, and there’s no guarantee that Eclipse 3.0 will keep looking like Figure 13-1.

Some of the changes the Eclipse team is contemplating include rounding view tabs instead of the square ...