Getting Started with the Eclipse Platform_Eclipsepintailumen
What is Eclipse?
Eclipse is an open source, Java-based extensible development platform. By itself, it is just a framework and a set of services for building development environments through plug-in components. Fortunately, Eclipse comes with a standard set of plug-ins, including Java Development Tools (JDT).
Although most users are happy to use Eclipse as a Java IDE, Eclipse's goals are not limited to that. Eclipse also includes a plug-in development environment (Plug-in Development Environment, PDE), this component is mainly aimed at software developers who want to extend Eclipse, because it allows them to build tools that integrate seamlessly with the Eclipse environment. Since everything in Eclipse is a plug-in, all tool developers have an equal playing field when it comes to providing plug-ins for Eclipse and providing users with a consistent and unified integrated development environment.
This equality and consistency is not limited to Java development tools. Although Eclipse was developed using the Java language, its use is not limited to the Java language; for example, plug-ins to support programming languages such as C/C++, COBOL, and Eiffel are already available or expected to be released. The Eclipse framework can also be used as the basis for other application types not related to software development, such as content management systems.
A prominent example of an Eclipse-based application is IBM's WebSphere Studio Workbench, which forms the basis of IBM's family of Java development tools. For example, WebSphere Studio Application Developer added support for JSPs, servlets, EJBs, XML, Web services, and database access.
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