Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Eclipse is the world's most popular IDE for Java development. And although there are plenty of large tomes that cover all the nooks and crannies of Eclipse, what you really need is a quick, handy guide to the features that are used over and over again in Java programming. You need answers to basic questions such as: Where was that menu? What does that command do again? And how can I set my classpath on a per-project basis?

This practical pocket guide gets you up to speed quickly with Eclipse. It covers basic concepts, including Views and editors, as well as features that are not commonly understood, such as Perspectives and Launch Configurations. You'll learn how to write and debug your Java code--and how to integrate that code with tools such as Ant and JUnit. You'll also get a toolbox full of tips and tricks to handle common--and sometimes unexpected--tasks that you'll run across in your Java development cycle.

Additionally, the Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide has a thorough appendix detailing all of Eclipse's important views, menus, and commands.

The Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide is just the resource you need for using Eclipse, whether it's on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Put it in your back pocket, or just throw it in your backpack. With this guide in hand, you're ready to tackle the Eclipse programming environment.

About the Author

Ed Burnette is editor of the articles section at eclipse.org, and author of the web site's "The Rich Client Platform (RCP) Tutorial" series. Ed also co-authored Eclipse in Action (Manning) and runs the eclipsepowered.org site, where he can often be found hanging out in the Eclipse community forums. He's written everything from multi-user servers to compilers to commercial video games since earning a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from North Carolina State University. He is a Principal Systems Developer at SAS, and lives near Research Triangle Park, NC.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (August 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596100655
• ISBN-13: 978-0596100650
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #104,967 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The O'Reilly Pocket Guides Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Handy Little Starter Guide, October 13, 2005

By	Larry (Somerville, MA) - See all my reviews

I agree with the previous reviewer (Thomas Duff) that this little sucker can be used as get-up-to-speed-quick guide for a complex product. I found the Eclipse on-line help and tutorials to be voluminous, but lacking in... I don't know, "usability" maybe? There's so much of it (like the product's menus and options) that it's difficult to find out how to do the 80% of the normal, everyday stuff that developers do. (You hear the same complaint about Microsoft Word.)
Anyway, if you follow this guide you'll get a quick tour of how to do the "usual stuff", i.e. the 80%. I thought the chapters on "Tips and Tricks" and "Help and Community" were especially useful. I could have done without 30 page Appendix on "Commands".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great place to start, November 28, 2005

By	David O'Meara "JavaRanch Sheriff" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The most common comment from the people I showed this book to was "I wish I had it when I started using Eclipse".

While this is a very small book, the contents have been selected to give you a best start with the main features of the Eclipse IDE. The topics are short but concise and include scattered tips for the points of interest.

If you're just starting with this IDE, the Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide will give you a great head start and will continue helping you as a lovely reference to refer back to as the features become familiar. Having all of these critical features pointed out earlier will save you a lot of bother in the future, since you'll be annoyed if you only find out about them much later by accident or experimentation!

Experienced users are less likely to get much from it though. The authors made a decision between content and size, and I feel they chose to stick with a smaller, simpler book than I would have expected. There is a final section on places to go for more information, but it just refers to various community sites.

I wish I had this book when I started using Eclipse.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gets you up and running Eclipse in short order..., September 3, 2005

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Short, sweet, and to the point... Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide by Ed Burnette.

Contents: Introduction; Workbench 101; Java Done Quick; Debugging; Unit Testing with JUnit; Tips and Tricks; Views; Short Takes; Help and Community; Commands; Index

Given that this book is only 117 pages, I really wondered how useful it might be. Maybe a list of things for Eclipse veterans that they could find quickly. Since most O'Reilly pocket guides seem to assume some level of knowledge to begin with, I thought that the target audience for this might be somewhat limited.

Wrong...

I'm actually surprised that this book could be used by someone who has never seen Eclipse, and there's a pretty good chance that they could get up and running with it in short order. That's not to say that a larger, more tutorial-style book wouldn't also be helpful, or that they will get everything they need in this pocket guide. But there are plenty of techno-geeks out there who just want the basic facts presented in quick fashion to get them started, and then they'll take it from there. And this book definitely delivers on that. Granted, I use Eclipse and have read a number of other books on the topic, but I could have used this one my first time out. You could almost think of it as 117 pages of bound documentation for Eclipse that prevents you from having to print out something you downloaded from the Eclipse website. Better yet, it's *readable*!

If you're going to be using Eclipse on a full-time basis in your job or for software development, definitely check into one of the larger books out there to get all the gritty details and minutiae about the software. But if you've just skimmed the surface in the past or you need to get a quick intro to get up to speed, this is definitely a book that will be worth your while...