After my little adventure with Java 7, downloading Eclipse and configuring it was a non-event.
Downloading
The download site is smart enough to pick up on the fact that I am on a Mac and default to presenting me with choices of packages/bits for my OS. I have to choose between Eclipse for JEE developers and Eclipse for Java developers. The former has web tools and JEE tools. The later has eGit and Maven. It sounds easier to install eGit and Maven after so I chose the JEE edition. It’s a 200MB download so I need to allow half an hour for download. Time to do something else for a while.
Plugins
My plugin list is similar to what I installed for Eclipse 3.7 (Indigo). In fact this year, I didn’t install them one at a time. I used the suggestion in last year’s blog comments and did:
- import > install > from existing installation
- Pointed to old eclipse
- Eclipse then gave me a list of what plugins I had installed and asked which I wanted.
- Accepted all the licenses and everything got downloaded/installed together.
Very cool! [last year I couldn’t do this because my Eclipse 3.6 was on a different computer]
The significant plugins I use: (I’ve installed a couple others over the past year and migrated those, but I’m not that attached to them.)
| Plugin | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Sysdeo | Tomcat integration [correction – Sysdeo no longer works in Juno] |
| Ecl Emma | Code coverage |
| PMD | Static analysis |
| Subversive | To access Subversion repositories |
| Groovy | Groovy project/editor and console |
| m2Eclipse | Maven – which I use more to play for downloading jar dependencies than for actually building |
| Freemarker IDE | Freemarker syntax highlighting and macro assistance. |
What excites me
- Java 7 support in an IDE.
- I really like that you can just start typing the method/field name when in quick outline (ctrl/cmd o) and quick hierarchy (ctrl/cmd t) pop-ups.
- Detecting resource leaks of Closeable/Autocloseable resources. This is awesome because it helps with “old code” too. The common IO/JDBC resources now implement the relevant interfaces. And the warning is smart enough to pick up on these!
- The global search bar gives you quick access to almost any Eclipse feature. So if I type in “SVN”, I can go right to the SVN repositories view.
- When you drag a pane from one part of the IDE to the other, there is a green trim showing where it will wind up.
What frustrates me
- Detached editors (open in a new window) look really cool, but they feel awkward to use. The way to open in detached mod is to drag outside the workbench. Since I’m usually in full screen mode, this means drag to the OS icons at bottom. Which is fine – I can get used to that. The help says you can also get it by clicking “detached” in the menu you get when right clicking the part’s tab. I don’t get anything by right clicking other than the option to close.
- This isn’t new, but HTML formatting is still not what I’d expect. Multiple HTML tags format on the same line and then split before the first attribute. This isn’t new and it isn’t any worse than previous versions of Eclipse. Which means I’ve gotten used to it on some level.
What I’m neutral on
- Very bright/white windowing – it’s fine, but going to take some getting used to.
- Code Recommenders – Intelligent code completion. I think I’m only neutral because I haven’t gotten to try. The concept looks really cool
Glad you still like the Sysdeo Tomcat plugin even in times of WTP;-) As one of the first committers to it, especially all graphics and UI I’m happy, it seems to live on after so many years. And the icons look better than some of what Juno contains, at least in the Previews I saw;-/
Cheers,
Werner
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I liked it until Eclipse 3.7. It no longer works in Juno 🙁 – http://www.selikoff.net/2012/07/02/no-more-sysdeo-tomcat-launcher-on-eclipse-juno/
Did you use the torrent link? My download took less than 10 minutes (color me happy)
and where is the “import > install > from existing installation” that you mention?
@Dave No I didn’t use the Torrent link. I also wasn’t bothered by the download speed. It’s others who seem to think it was too slow.
@Dave
File > Import
Expand Install > Choose “From existing installation” (*or type installation” in the filter)
Next
Point to Indigo install
Finish
Have you taken a thorough look at the HTML formatting preferences (the attribute line splitting is configurable), and opened feature requests for what you find lacking in Juno?
Turning on attribute line splitting actually makes it worse. But you raise a good point. I haven’t explored the settings in a long time because the behavior has been “not what I expect” for a few releases now. I just removed *all* the entries from web > html files > editor – inline elements. And now it formats as I’d expect. A bit more verbose in that now more things get their own line. But no obscure breaks where the tag is on one line and the first attribute is on another. (I think it was because inline tags were breaking around whitespace.)
Thanks!
Jeanne – I noticed (and was annoyed) by “bright windowing” (also on a Mac). I toned it down using Preferences > General > Appearance (chose classic)
Just uninstalled Groovy because conflicted with Python. Easy uninstall. (eclipse > about eclipse > installation details > uninstall.) will try to reinstall if I use groovy again in near future.
By the way – the latest version of the Sysdeo plugin works fine with Eclipse Juno.
Back to Java 6. Not being able to run our Ant task is pretty fatal in Java 7.
[junitreport] : Error! The first argument to the non-static Java function ‘replace’ is not a valid object reference.
[junitreport] : Error! Cannot convert data-type ‘void’ to ‘reference’.
[junitreport] : Fatal Error! Could not compile stylesheet
Reference suggesting rolling back to Java 6:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10607151/error-the-first-argument-to-the-non-static-java-function-replace-is-not-a-val
I installed Eclipse Juno and put the sysdeo plugin into the plugins directory. At first it didn’t work because I had re-installed tomcat in a different directory and the plugin was looking for the Tomcat jars in my old directory.
I went to the Tomcat settings and updated the tomcat classpath to point to the new directory and it worked.
I installed Eclipse juno and used the tomcat sysdeo plugin tomcatPluginV33. I am able to see the icon and start tomcat.
Eclipse has become horribly buggy over the years. What used to work correctly now doesn’t:
– Scrollbar does not hide when not needed (187029)
– Names of hidden tabs are not bolded (385987)
– Annoying close dialog for *every* unsaved tab (396318)
– Hidden tabs list is displayed off-screen (396310)
Not really sure how these bugs get past any type of decent testing, and since these are bugs found on existing features the people managing Eclipse should place more emphasis on fixing these than churning out new builds that will also inherit these bugs. Makes me wonder the integrity of Eclipse Foundation and how they prioritize tasks.