Version 2.1 of the Eclipse Project, designed to provide an integrated framework that application development tools snap-into, has been posted online and is ready for download.

Eclipse is an open source project for cross-platform development and has so far secured backing from 34 ISVs, who include Red Hat Inc and QNX Software Systems Inc.

While Eclipse has been positioned as an initiative that helps vendors develop tools that more easily plug together, it also serves IBM by expanding the features available to its own developers using WebSphere Studio Java tools suite. WebSphere Studio is now based on Eclipse and functionality can be potentially enhanced by snapping in point products from Eclipse-friendly ISVs.

Eclipse is expected to formally announce version 2.1 next week, when IBM hosts its yearly developerWorks Live! 2003 programmers’ conference in New Orleans.

Updates in version 2.1 are a combination of new features and an expansion of existing capabilities, taking the rough edges off previous versions. Such changes are vital to ensure corporate developers buy into the framework instead of remaining wedded to existing, separate offerings.

Changes include the ability for developers to move between different workbench editors using a back button and a resource navigator that is no longer tightly linked to the open editor. That means changing or switching editors does not change the selection in the navigator view.

Synchronization between the user interface and editor has also been improved, providing a uniform way to navigate from an open editor to a view of different files.

The Java editor has been made more customizable, a greater number of quick fixes have been added to tackle problems in Java, such as creating missing constructs using just a couple of mouse clicks, and an increased number of error types can be caught, including uncaught exceptions and unused variables, which require detailed flow analysis.

The plug-in experience, itself, has also been improved. Wizards enable plug-in features to be exported to a ZIP file that can be unzipped from any Eclipse-based product. Eclipse.org was unwilling to comment on details of version 2.1 at time of going to press.

Source: Computerwire