Eclipse Rich Client Platform

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 3.5; and walk through developing a full-featured, branded RCP application for Windows, Linux, Mac, and other platforms--including handheld devices and kiosks.

Drawing on their extensive experience, the authors cover building, refining, and refactoring prototypes; customizing user interfaces; adding help and software management features; and building, branding, testing, and shipping finished software. They demonstrate current best practices for developing modular and dynamically extensible systems, using third-party code libraries, packaging applications for diverse environments, and much more.

For Java programmers at all levels of experience, this book

• Introduces important new RCP features such as p2, Commands, and Databinding
• Thoroughly covers key RCP-related technologies such as Equinox, SWT, JFace, and OSGi
• Shows how to effectively brand and customize RCP application look-and-feel
• Walks through user interface testing for RCP applications with SWTBot
• Illuminates key similarities and differences between RCP and conventional plug-in development

Hands-on, pragmatic, and comprehensive, this book offers all the real-world, nontrivial code examples working developers need--as well as "deep dives" into key technical areas that are essential to your success.

Jeff McAffer has been part of Eclipse since the beginning and currently co-leads the Eclipse Equinox OSGi, RT, and RCP teams. He also has leadership roles in the Eclipse and Tools Projects at Eclipse and is the lead author of OSGi and Equinox: Creating Highly Modular Java Systems Systems (Addison-Wesley, 2010).

Jean-Michel Lemieux, lead architect of the Jazz project, has been a committer on the Eclipse Team and CVS components since the project’s inception.

Chris Aniszczyk is the co-lead of Eclipse’s Plug-in Development Environment (PDE), sits on the Eclipse Architecture Council, and represents the Eclipse committers on the Eclipse Foundation’s Board of Directors.