I know, I know, I'm the n'th guy with a list about Eclipse plugins. But blogging about installing Eclipse plugins can't really go without a list of the plugins I actually use, and can't live without. Besides, if no one cares, I still have a good reference list when configuring a new workstation :).
Profile
Well, I'm mainly a Java programmer, but I like to do some side work in PHP. Furthermore I'm not a person that wants as much functionality as possible into my IDE, just a few things to make my life easier. Almost all development I do is web development, so JavaScript is pretty important as well.
The List
1. SpringIDE
Since I use Spring a lot, it's nice to have some support for it. Especially when editing the XML files with my beans.
[ Website ] - [ Eclipse update site ]
2. JBoss Tools
I use it mainly for Hibernate support, but the RichFaces and Seam support are also welcome. JBoss descripbes it's Hibernate support as:
Supporting mapping files, annotations and JPA with reverse engineering, code completion, project wizards, refactoring, interactive HQL/JPA-QL/Criteria execution and more.In short a merger of Hibernate Tools and Exadel ORM features.
[ Website ] - [ Eclipse update site ]
3. JSEclipse
Like I said, I do a fair amount of JavaScript. Mostly using JQuery. JSEclipse was aquired by Adobe and freely available. Especially the auto completion features that I'm used to when coding in Java is a great help when working with JavaScript. Unfortunately there is no update site for eclipse, which would be a great improvement from Adobe. You also need a (free) Adobe account, that's probably the reason why they have no update site. That may be a showstopper for some people, but I consider it acceptable because the plugin is really good.
[ Website ]
4. Subclipse
I doubted a bit about putting this on my list. I actually prefer doing my Subversion administration with TortoiseSVN and even commandline. So why did I put this plugin on my list? I do like to see the history and the status of my source fields in my IDE. And I've come to realize that's someting I don't want to miss, and thus making it to my list.
[ Website ] - [ Eclipse update site ]
5. PHP Development Tools
Or short, PDT. Well, I mentioned my programming in PHP, and using PDT I can still use Eclipse. It might not be interesting for the Java developers out there, but still worth mentioning when you need to do some PHP work.
[ Website ] - [ Eclipse update site ]
What about you?
I know this is a very subjective topic, but everyone has some favorite plugins. So let me know what plugins you really like, and recommend me using, because tools are meant to make our lives easier, and I am always looking for ways to accomplish that.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Hi,
I totally agree for the Spring IDE being my main eclipse plugin.
Well, I use Subversive instead of Subclipse, bare WTP 2 and not JBoss Tools.
A suggestion that you might find useful: Log4E. Just try it, and you will see what I mean
February 11th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Check the Spket IDE (http://www.spket.com/)
February 11th, 2008 at 11:07 am
djo.mos, do you know what the real differences between Subversive and Subclipse are? I remember using it once and I was not quite sure which plugin I used. Has been a while ago though. And Log4E looks really promising, I’n only a bit concerned about the difference between the free and paid version. Guess I have to try it out :).
JOKe, Spket IDE looks quite promising as well, I will give it a try and see if it’s better then JSEclipse.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:41 am
@riwema> Well, apart of the gui, I’m not sure of the differences between Subversive & subclipse. Subversive allows you to choose the SVN Engine to use while Subclipse doesn’t (or at least I believe so).
Also, Subversive has been adopted by the eclipse foundation and is now in an incubator stage. It will be apart of eclipse in the future (as CVS).
For Log4E, I agree, the licenses are quite foggy … anyway, I use the free version to cover my back
Cheers
February 11th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Hi Ronald.
This is an interesting article - it’s always interesting to see what plugins people depend on for development.
I am a zone leader on EclipseZone - this article would be a nice addition to what we have there so far - would you be interested in republishing this article on EclipseZone?
Regards
James
February 11th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Add easy explorer plugin to that list..
February 11th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Jadclipse with jad.exe, let’s you decompile Java classes in your workspace on the fly. Definitely one I can’t live without.
February 11th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
jadclipse, checkstyle, maven 2.0 (if you use maven), metrics
March 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am
What do you use for accessing databases (oracle, postgresql, mysql, etc)?