Eclipse Rich Client Platform

by Jeff McAffer, Jean-Michel Lemieux, Chris Aniszczyk

Book Overview

The Definitive Guide to Eclipse Rich Client Development

In Eclipse Rich Client Platform, Second Edition, three Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) project leaders show how to use Eclipse 3.5 ("Galileo") to rapidly deliver cross-platform applications with rich, native-feel GUIs.
The authors fully reveal the power of Eclipse as a desktop application development platform; introduce important new improvements in Eclipse...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0321603788
• ISBN13: 9780321603784
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Length: 518 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

improve your productivity with Eclipse as a framework

The authors describe how Eclipse is growing in ways perhaps not foreseen to its earlier designers and users. Eclipse is of course a powerful Integrated Development Environment, and other books in this series have comprehensively explained it as such. But here, we see a relatively new aspect to Eclipse. In detail, it is explained how Eclipse can function as a framework for making a user interface program (the "client") with sophisticated ("rich") functionality. For you, the programmer, there are ways to plug your project-specific code into Eclipse. Why? The payoff is that Eclipse offers a lot of useful code, perhaps best described as plumbing, to do a lot of the routine stuff common to many UI programs. To be sure, there are numerous details about how to do this. Not trivial. Which accounts for the length of the book. But, with just moderate experience as a Java programmer, the narrative should be comprehensible. The basic idea in the book is that you gain two advantages by using Eclipse in this fashion. You get more productivity, by not having to code common and mundane functionality. Plus, debugging may be easier. Because the Eclipse code is very solid and well tested. And hence you can focus debugging attention on your specific code.

Not since Tolkien...

I wanted to start off by saying what a treat it has been to use McAffer and Lemieux's book. It is well written and easy to comprehend. The chapters follow a logical sequence and I particularly like the way that "Notes" and "Tips" clarify and support the rest of the material. My team is in the later stages of implementing a Rich Client product, and "Eclipse Rich Client Platform" has helped us with both small details and broad concepts. We referenced it extensively when creating and debugging an automated build (Chapter 24), adding Update Actions to our product (Chapter 14) and Reporting Status (Chapter 17). Although we took the "tossed salad" approach to using the book it also works very well as a step by step tutorial. You don't need to be a Java guru or Eclipse expert to understand the book, yet it is still useful for the relative beginner. The last time I wrote in praise of a book, it was to JRR Tolkien for Lord of the Rings. I distribute my praise sparingly and this book deserves it.

Excellent Technical Book

Eclipse Rich Client Platform is an excellent book for both introduction to Eclipse RCP, and for the more experienced programmer. They take a tutorial approach to introducing Eclipse RCP, and describe the building of an Instant Messaging client as an RCP application. This works very well, as it allows the reader to connect their own application-level needs to the mechanisms that RCP provides. Then they shift gears and discuss user interface concepts like the Workbench, Perspectives, Views, Editors, Actions, etc more abstractly, so that the reader can get a very thorough understanding of the main patterns and concepts in the APIs available to Eclipse RCP client applications. Finally they discuss development and deployment processes made possible by the basic plugin model, the update mechanisms, and product configurations. The authors do an excellent job of making RCP accessible for the uninitiated, while still presenting plenty of details for the more experienced RCP developer.

Learning by building something concrete!

This is really an awesome book because: * I was suprised how extremely complete this book is. It not only explain how to develop a application, but also how you do your HELP-system, the plugin update mechanism, dynamic plugins, brand and package your application. Also chapter 25 called 'The last mile' explain Native Installers, Webstart and multi user install scenario. SO:it explains the whole cycle, for creating windows/views, creating the help, and distributing the application! * It offers a tutorial for building a real world application what the authors have called Hyperbola (a Chat client). This tutorial has a good level, compared to books like '... for dummies', '... in 24 hours' and '... unleashed'. * The tutorial application EVOLVES over the chapters. So after the end of every chapter the application is running, and more (complex) functionality is added every chapter. So you don't need to follow all chapters before you see results of your work (it's not a big bang application). This keep you motivated to follow the book and play arround. Or how the authors call it in the book: "The next few chapters focus on iteratively developing Hyperbola. This next interation is interesting because it allows you to quickly get something running you can show to your mom, your boss, or your friends. It's also a lot more fun to learn RCP while developing something concrete." * Every chapter starts with the goals of this chapter,e.g. what you will add to the application in this chapter. * This book does NOT contains cheap fillers (some books repeat things endless, starts with chapters introducing Java, prints the Java Doc of a library,etc.). It is simply to the point. * The tutorial is very complete and contains a lot of explaination about what you're doing. It is not one big listing. E.g. it explain what Actions are, what you can do with it, where to code them, and of course how to code them in your Hyperbola application. * It is very complete because it e.g. starts how to install Eclipse and the Eclipse RCP SDK and how you need to configure them. This is a real timesaver for novice Eclipse people. You just need to follow the steps in the introduction chapter. So this is a learning-by-doing book with a good level. After you have read this book (and played with Eclipse), you are able to develop simple RCP-applications, you know how the RCP is structured, how to package them, etc.

One-stop shopping for learning Eclipse RCP

Having read "Eclipse RCP" in its entirety as a manuscript reviewer, I can tell you that this is a superb book. The authors have done a splendid job of creating a technical book that serves well as both a tutorial and as a reference. Through the development of a single example, the book covers everything you need to get started building and packaging an Eclipse RCP application. The book even includes a CD containing all the software you'll need to work through the tutorials and build your own RCP applications. While a single book could never describe every aspect of the Eclipse Platform, this book is certainly all you need to get started with Eclipse RCP, and then once you've found your feet, there are other books in the Eclipse Series that will help expand your knowledge of the Eclipse Platform and Eclipse plug-in development. This book has been produced extremely well: The text is well written, the pages are full of easy to follow code snippets, and there are sidebars that share best practices and handy tips, as well as plenty of good quality screen shots and diagrams. Buy this book. Read this book. You'll be glad you did.