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Eclipse 3.1 Released 343

Jeff Myers writes "Eclipse version 3.1 was just released and is available for download. There are quite a few new and noteworthy features added in this release - including full support for Java 5.0 and improved support for developing rich client applications based on the Eclipse platform." Update: 06/28 21:03 GMT by Z : Denis emailed to request we use mirrors, as they're already getting hammered pretty hard.
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Eclipse 3.1 Released

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  • by savagedome ( 742194 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @04:50PM (#12935415)
    With the Space Ring [slashdot.org] and Google Earth [slashdot.org], I knew the Eclipse was coming!
  • Everything has already been overloaded at eclipse.org. TDS Internet used to be listed in their mirrors but now it isn't? Bailing out a little early aren't we?
  • by Ingolfke ( 515826 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @04:53PM (#12935456) Journal
    They release a new version of their software and their primary delivery servers in Pakistan are completely unavailable.
  • Just one question (Score:3, Informative)

    by John Seminal ( 698722 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @04:56PM (#12935473) Journal
    Is Eclipse any faster than when they first released it.

    That was my only knock of the software. It would be so slow. William. Shatner. could. deliver. a. line. quicker.

    For those who don't need a full blown IDE, just something to write java in and compile, try textpad. It is lightning quick.

    But I bet with faster CPU's, eclipse is alright now. But it was so slow on a PIII 1ghz with 512 megs. So slow.

    • Is Eclipse any faster than when they first released it.

      Yes.
      The site is down at the moment so I don't have any links but I know they've done a lot of great work on performance, especially on linux, since 3.0. GUI operations are way faster and the whole app is way more responsive as a result.
    • Re:Just one question (Score:5, Informative)

      by Mechanik ( 104328 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:02PM (#12935542) Homepage
      Is Eclipse any faster than when they first released it.

      Actually yes. Performance was a major focal point for 3.1. Now that all the platform plugins are using OSGI bundle manifests and are all packaged as JAR files, things are much faster. Just starting up Eclipse used to take forever but it's much faster now.
      • Is it faster on Linux now as well as Windows? SWT on Linux has always been a real dog, and I'm keen for it to get faster because (a) it's the only thing stopping me using it over Swing, and (b) I run Azureus, which is amazingly slow because of it.
    • It is quite fast now, but run it on a dual core P4 with 2.5 Gigs of RAM, now that's quite a highend configuration.

      I always keep trying new IDEs, but within a day or two end up going back to Vim, but eclipse is the only thing that I would even consider replacing Vim with for my programming.

      my problem is with their CVS integration, if you use SSH for cvs access, it puts the repository as ":extssh:..." , instead of ":ext:..." , and this makes the repository incompatible with anyother CVS tool.

      I used eclip

      • It is quite fast now, but run it on a dual core P4 with 2.5 Gigs of RAM, now that's quite a highend configuration.

        For a system with 2.5 gigs, I expect you have more RAM than it needs. How much does Eclipse use up when you start it?

        • How much does Eclipse use up when you start it? It of course depends on your projects, etc. but for me, I have 6 large projects nearly always open at the same time. I define "large" by 40+ packages, with 8-12 classes each, plus a hundred or more config and jsp/html files. With all of this "fired up" it uses ~110 MB of RAM, and is quite responsive on a crappy 1.7GHz Centrino processor.
      • Re:Just one question (Score:3, Informative)

        by jnana ( 519059 )

        my problem is with their CVS integration, if you use SSH for cvs access, it puts the repository as ":extssh:..." , instead of ":ext:..." , and this makes the repository incompatible with anyother CVS tool.

        There has been an option of doing CVS in Eclipse using ext: and not extssh: for a long time. I've been doing it for more than a year. Extssh may be the default on some wizard though, but if you just add the repository location yourself, you can select 'ext:' and it works great.

    • I have recently switched over to Eclipse from XEmacs for all my Java development. It is quite a memory hog (not that XEmacs isn't) but I've found it to be faster in general than XEmacs. If you open too many files it starts to get sluggish, which is sort of lame. But all of the refactoring, auto-formatting, auto-importing and such is pretty awesome. I can honestly say it saves me a lot of time.

      Now NetBeans I tried a while back and THAT was absurdly slow. I uninstalled it within 30 minutes.

      -If
      • The thing I like about NetBeans is that you can be up and deubgging a remote VM in under a minute. You mount a source directory, and bam you can debug whatever and follow the source.

        With Eclipse (and many other IDE's) you have to have all the libraries and everythig else the app needs to compile in place before you can debug.

        Of course less casual users of IDE's will not mind since they must already maintain the eclipse project file anyway to use it day to day. But for those of use who still prefer more
    • It starts pretty long (sometimes 30 sec on my P3/Celeron 1.2GHz with 512 megs), but after it starts - it works wondefully, responsive as if it were a native (machine code) application.

      Give it a try. Download, start, make yourself a cup of java and return to computer for some great Java development experience.
    • Re:Just one question (Score:5, Informative)

      by AndrewR81 ( 601345 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:25PM (#12935846)
      I've only used version 3 and it's quite fast. Admittedly I'm on a 3 GHz with 512 MB RAM. I've heard several people the same thing, so maybe 3.X is improved. Occasionally, it will stall for about 30 seconds but I've never had it crash.

      I've found that developing in eclipse is faster than writing and compiling, because it highlights errors as you type (like how word underlines spelling mistakes). Once I'm done editing, I know it compiles, although just clicking the "run" icon is all that's required. (You can get a list of errors and go through them one by one if you prefer.)

      I also find the development aids they have to be time-saving. For example, a ctrl-T will bring up a class hierarchy tree. Ctrl-E will pop up a list of all files opened where you can type in a filter (Action*.java). Ctrl-alt-H will show all the methods that call the method you'are currently editing. Not to mention the refactoring, debugger, views, etc.

      Of course, each editor/IDE has their strength and weaknesses, but I've been quite happy with eclipse. The only thing I miss is a GUI editor like netbeans has.
    • I found it faster, though I didn't time it. You're a little short on CPU, so you're going to get slow performance anyway, are probably just better off with a text editor to do the development.

      It's worth noting that starting Eclipse for the first time takes 3 or 4 times longer to start than subsequent times.
    • Eclipse eats a crazy amount of ram. With a project at work, I sit around 330 megs of memory used.
      • Eclipse eats as much as you give it. I think it defaults to 256 MB ram, and given the chance it will fill that with cached lists of classes, methods, and so on in order to speed up search and overview functions.

        Try starting it with -vmargs -Xmx128M

        • I already have it starting off at 256 and going up to 700 something. The projects I work on are too large to fit withing 128 megs. People in my group get out of memory errors sometimes with the max VM size at 512 megs.
  • by WillAffleckUW ( 858324 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @04:56PM (#12935482) Homepage Journal
    maybe include:

    1. a short description of what it is [a better browser, a sliced bread device, a program for counting sheep]; and

    2. a link to a resource page on what it is [like the basic description in detail for geeks] ...

    Seriously, I haven't the faintest idea what Eclipse is - is it a device to crash the moon into the earth to make a [evil laugh] MILLION DOLLARS!!! - or is it the latest hamster-management software program for hamster farming?

    ok, i'll be quiet ... but seriously, you only post a short two line post on something and no details and the frickin web site is /. already so who the heck knows what it is ...
    • by suitepotato ( 863945 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:05PM (#12935586)
      From TFSite:
      Eclipse.org is the website of the Eclipse Foundation.

      Eclipse is an open platform for tool integration built by an open community of tool providers. Operating under an open source paradigm, with a common public license that provides royalty free source code and world wide redistribution rights, the eclipse platform provides tool developers with ultimate flexibility and control over their software technology.

      Eclipse has formed an independent open eco-system around royalty-free technology and a universal platform for tools integration. Eclipse based tools give developers freedom of choice in a multi-language, multi-platform, multi-vendor environment. Eclipse provides a plug-in based framework that makes it easier to create, integrate and utilize software tools, saving time and money. By collaborating and exploiting core integration technology, tool producers can leverage platform reuse and concentrate on core competencies to create new development technology. The Eclipse Platform is written in the Java language and comes with extensive plug-in construction toolkits and examples. It has already been deployed on a range of development workstations including Linux, HP-UX, AIX, Solaris, QNX, Mac OS X and Windows based systems. A full description of the Eclipse community and white papers documenting the design and use of the Eclipse Platform are available at http://www.eclipse.org./ [www.eclipse.org]

      The Eclipse Foundation is a non-profit corporation formed to advance the creation, evolution, promotion, and support of the Eclipse Platform and to cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products, capabilities, and services.


      Seems simple enough to me. They're a non-profit market-speak-driven company that wants to be a cross-platform coding development environment company.

      My money is on market-speak winning. I mean, anyone that can write "independent open eco-system around royalty-free technology and a universal platform for tools integration" is much better suited to that than Java. Maybe marketing Java...
      • I agree it does sound like a load of marketing gibberish. I have a better description:

        Popular like java itself - but open and not stifled by SUN licensing.
        Cross platform GUI - but not crap like SUNs AWT or slow like Swing.
        Powerful development tools similar to Netbeans - only unlike SUNs netbeans people use it that aren't forced to by their employers.
        Similar to Netbeans only - only unlikes SUNs netbeans has major industry backing and is becoming the java development platform standard.

        I sometimes wonder wh
      • Eclipse is an open platform for tool integration built by an open community of tool providers. Operating under an open source paradigm, with a common public license that provides royalty free source code and world wide redistribution rights, the eclipse platform provides tool developers with ultimate flexibility and control over their software technology.

        Eclipse has formed an independent open eco-system around royalty-free technology and a universal platform for tools integration...


        {sarcasm}
        So I have to
    • What eclipse is (Score:5, Informative)

      by acomj ( 20611 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:10PM (#12935638) Homepage
      Eclipse is confusing.. its really 2 things in 1.

      1. Its an Itergrated Development Environment (IDE) which allows plug ins to extend its usefullyness.

      2. Its written in java with SWT (native platorm windowing extentions). It can be used as a framework for building your own java applications.

    • Man, you read and post on Slashdot and don't know what Eclipse is? If so, you didn't write even a "Hello World" in Java, did you?

      Eclipse is an IDE. Primarly for Java, but it's plugin system makes it - with proper plugins - great for developing C/C++, PHP, Ruby and even synching with darcs repo!
      • mmmmm darcs. Needs better subversion and IIRC the PHP plugin doesn't work with 3.1. At least it didn't up till last week.
      • Man, you read and post on Slashdot and don't know what Eclipse is? If so, you didn't write even a "Hello World" in Java, did you?

        I use JBuilder and other Java tools. I've never even heard about Eclipse. I do know what JWT is, Swing, Java Beans - but I've never heard about Eclipse until today.

        I've got a Sun Java backpack I wear to work, and training in various languages including formal university, college, and industry classes on Java.

        And - I've - never - heard - of - Eclipse.

        So if you're going to po
        • OK, that's a matter of quality of /. summaries.

          It's still hard for me to believe in someone so professional in Java and not knowing what Eclipse is. It's like, where have You been for the last 5 years?
          Never heard of SWT either? Do you know Azureus, the best BitTorrent client out there? It's written in Java using SWT toolkit for visualization - and SWT was developed for Eclipse. And yes, it's in many ways better (although harder) than Swing.
        • Man, you are a Java developer and you've never heard of Eclipse? Where have you been hiding? Let me guess--you've never heard of SWT, either?

          If you are a Java developer and you haven't heard of eclipse, download it. It's the open-source IDE originally from IBM. It seems to be the IDE with the most traction in the Java world. IIRC, even Borland and BEA have decided the next versions of their respective IDEs (JBuilder and Workspace) will be simple plugins to Eclipse.

          It's quite a nice IDE. Really. The

        • I've got a Sun Java backpack I wear to work, [...] And - I've - never - heard - of - Eclipse.

          Sun Microsystems doesn't like to talk about, or even acknowledge the existence of, Eclipse. Unless you really pester them about it.

          After all, IBM picked the name: they're eclipsing the sun...

    • by hey ( 83763 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:14PM (#12935690) Journal
      Slashdot just wouldn't be Slashdot with boring/sane stuff like that in there!

      How about this: a new version of Apache [a http [http is the the web protocol] server [a program [an ordered set of instructions] that runs all the time] was just released.
    • No (Score:2, Troll)

      by Pac ( 9516 )
      It is for Devs, as you say. If you don't know what it is, we don't know you, you don't belong...
    • You seem to have been living under a rock for the past couple of years.

      Eclipse is the number one IDE for development in Java. IBM has been developing it for the past 5 years, and recently dozens of companies have jumped on the bandwagon, with the end result that pretty much every major Java developer tools company now has plugins for Eclipse.
    • the frickin web site is /. already so who the heck knows what it is

      Use MirrorDot [mirrordot.org] to view Slashdot-linked articles that have gone down under the load.
  • Correct link (Score:5, Informative)

    by kss ( 582478 ) * on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @04:56PM (#12935483)
    The link gives a 404. Here is the correct one [eclipse.org].
  • No torrent?
  • We were using it where I worked and discovered upon upgrading to 3.1 RC3 that our app wouldn't compile. It still doesn't on this release. Backup your old copy before you upgrade.
    • Java 1.5 issues or some other bug in the IDE? Netbeans has the former nailed down pretty neatly.
    • We were using it where I worked and discovered upon upgrading to 3.1 RC3 that our app wouldn't compile. It still doesn't on this release. Backup your old copy before you upgrade.

      Can you be more specific as to why it wouldn't compile?

      If your app is a plugin there may have been some interface changes which might break code relying on old interfaces, I suspect not but it's possible, especially if your code reaches into the eclipse internals (which it shouldn't).

      If your code isn't a plugin but some other ap
  • Wow, it seems that eclipse has jumped on the "million download challenge" bandwagon. Though, this one is a bit less interesting as no one has to swim across the ocean...
  • by Bob9113 ( 14996 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:19PM (#12935756) Homepage
    Denis emailed to request we use mirrors, as they're already getting hammered pretty hard.

    I think it's very kind of you to edit the story to suggest that we go to the mirrors instead of to the main site. Did Denis, I dunno, maybe, provide links? If so, any possiblity you'd be willing to share the info?
    • by toofast ( 20646 ) *
      When you click your download file from www.eclipse.org, it will ask you to pick a mirror. Unfortunately many of them haven't sync'ed yet, so many people just zip down the page and pick "Main Eclipse Download Site". That's what I wanted to avoid.
  • Kaffe (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ewhac ( 5844 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:34PM (#12935967) Homepage Journal
    Does it work with Kaffe 1.1.5 out of the box? Or do I still have to disable file locking by hand (osgi.locking=none)?

    Schwab

    • by RPoet ( 20693 )
      How is this flamebait? I had a hard time getting eclipse 3.0 working on kaffe a while back myself due to the file locking issue (got great help from #kaffe though), I'd like to know if this has changed.
  • From their description: By collaborating and exploiting core integration technology, tool producers can leverage platform reuse and concentrate on core competencies to create new development technology.

    Add: "And only then can the proletariat ensure its glorious future" and it sounds like something from a Soviet pamphlet ca. 1923.

    Or maybe it sounds like a man from the future describing the Utopia to come in a bad 1950s B movie.

    Actually, it's probably just missing some confusing acronyms. :-)

    I gue

    • Re:Huh? (Score:3, Funny)

      by gbulmash ( 688770 ) *
      Before anyone beats me to it...

      Stonehenge is the only surviving member of the famous druidic henges after Hayhenge and Stickhenge were blown down by a wolf.

      Spamhenge is under construction.

      - Greg

    • I guess this is really cool stuff for Java coders. But for the rest of us infidels, it's Stonehenge.
      It supports C++ too.
  • Eclipse? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Txiasaeia ( 581598 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:44PM (#12936082)
    For those of us not in the know and who might possibly be interested in this application, would it be possible from now on for submitters to include a brief description of what the program actually does, and maybe what OSes you can use it on? I think this is fair considering anytime I want to R the FA it's already been pounded into glue by the slashdot hordes.
    • Re:Eclipse? (Score:2, Informative)

      by the0ther ( 720331 )
      It's a reasonable expectation to know what Eclipse is.
      • Re:Eclipse? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Txiasaeia ( 581598 )
        Reasonable for who? I'm not a programmer (I gave up and googled it) and therefore wouldn't have come across the term in the course of my everyday life. It's "News for Nerds," not "News for Programmers." Anyway, would it really be so difficult to include a brief description of what the program does? We're talking about *one sentence*, not a doctoral dissertation.
      • To forestall my getting modded down, it's probably my fault that I even saw this story; I thought it was a general story when it appears that it belongs in the "Developers" sub-category. I'm obviously not a developer, and from your comment I would assume that anybody who *is* a developer would know what Eclipse is. My bad.
  • Bit Torrent (Score:5, Insightful)

    by amembleton ( 411990 ) <aembleton@bigf[ ].com ['oot' in gap]> on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @05:53PM (#12936174) Homepage
    Are there any .torrent links for this new version of Eclipse?
  • I'm glad this release is targeting rich clients, because I was really getting sick of contracting for those clients with no money.
  • by csimoes ( 530169 ) on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @08:08PM (#12937242)
  • Recipe for /.ing (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dtfinch ( 661405 ) * on Tuesday June 28, 2005 @10:27PM (#12938084) Journal
    1) Release 100mb download, with stated goal of reaching a million downloads.
    2) Post link on slashdot _before_ the download has been mirrored.
    3) Watch in horror as tens of thousands of users try to download from the main server because it's not on the mirrors because the mirrors can't reach the main server.

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