Eclipse IDE

Eclipse IDE is an open source desktop IDE for Java, C/C++ and plug-in developers, extended through Eclipse Marketplace and run by the Eclipse Foundation.

Eclipse IDE gives developers one desktop workspace to write, refactor, run and debug code, with Java as its deepest language. It is open source under the Eclipse Public License 2.0 and stewarded by the Eclipse Foundation, the Brussels not-for-profit created in January 2004. The code base began as the Eclipse Project, which IBM created in November 2001. The Eclipse IDE Working Group now provides governance, guidance and funding for the communities that deliver it. The Java development tools cover the core loop of a Java project. Java search finds declarations, references and occurrences, and the Call Hierarchy view shows callers and callees. Refactorings such as Rename, Move, Extract Method and Inline update the dependent files. Launch configurations save how a program runs, debug mode suspends execution to inspect variables, and the JUnit view reruns tests. The C/C++ Development Toolkit brings the same workspace to C and C++, while Eclipse Marketplace adds plugins such as the third-party GitHub Copilot plugin. The IDE suits Java developers who want an open, extensible environment, and C and C++ engineers who work in the CDT. Plug-in authors get dedicated tooling, including Plug-in Manifest and Feature Manifest editors. Tool vendors build their own products on the Eclipse Platform, as Renesas and Sigasi do. Developers adopt it by downloading the package built for their language, and organisations that rely on it can sponsor the IDE through the working group without becoming members. Most work happens inside a Java project, where a developer renames a class across the code base, steps through a failing JUnit test and reruns it from the JUnit view. Spring developers add the Spring Tools extensions for Eclipse to work on their applications. Plug-in authors launch their extensions with the OSGi console switched on from the launch configuration. The same workspace turns up both as a Java IDE on a developer's laptop and as the base of commercial tools such as Sigasi Studio.