Eclipse is a free and open-source integrated development environment (IDE) written in Java. It offers a large number of plugins and thus can be customized for almost every programming language or software framework.
Eclipse is an open-source IDE platform written mostly in Java and primarily used for Java development through the use of the Java Development Tools (JDT) plug-ins. It is notable for its rich ecosystem of free and commercial plugins and that it is predominantly itself composed of plug-ins.
Eclipse is built on an OSGI implementation called Equinox; the same OSGI-based framework is used for managing its plug-ins at runtime. Eclipse can also be used as a development environment for non-IDE GUI applications, leveraging many of the same plug-ins as the IDE to form a more general Rich Client Platform, called Eclipse RCP.
For C/C++ development, the Eclipse CDT Project provides plug-ins to create a C/C++ development environment within Eclipse.
The Eclipse Web Tools Platform project supplies plug-ins for developing Open web standards-based and Java web applications, and frameworks for building higher-level web tools.
For PHP development, the Eclipse PDT Project provides a plugin to create a PHP development environment within Eclipse, building on features of the Web Tools Platform. The popular commercial Zend Studio is also based on Eclipse.
For Python development, PyDev provides plug-ins, called PyDev, to create a Python development environment within Eclipse.
For Perl development, the EPIC project provides a plugin to create a Perl development environment within Eclipse.
The AndMore project at eclipse.org provides plug-ins to create an Android development environment within Eclipse. Google has ceased developing the Android Development Tools in favor of another solution.
When combined with Cygwin (or MinGW), Mono, and its many plugins, Eclipse provides a crucial part of viable open-source alternatives to using Microsoft Visual-Studio as a Windows software development platform in Windows, whilst also including comprehensive native support for Java.
Download the latest version of Eclipse from eclipse.org
Download Eclipse with Android SDK
Download site for the Eclipse Project itself, including the core runtime and SDK
Eclipse Marketplace featuring Plug-ins, Bundles and Products
Useful Links:
- Eclipse Wikipedia Article
- About Eclipse Foundation
- Eclipse vs. NetBeans as Rich Client Platforms
- List Of Older Versions
- FAQ
- Upgrading Eclipse
- Eclipse Tutorials
- Eclipse Stack Overflow Documentation
