Eclipse is an open source IDE and platform for building applications. There is a wide variety of plugins for various programming languages and other development-oriented tools (such as modeling, database browsing, etc.). This tag should only be used for questions specifically about the Eclipse IDE or platform, not for generalized (Java, etc.) programming topics.
Eclipse IDE is an open-source IDE platform written mostly in Java and primarily used for Java development through the use of the Java Development Tools (JDT) plug-ins. It is notable for its rich ecosystem of free and commercial plugins and that it is predominantly itself composed of plug-ins.
Eclipse IDE is built on an OSGI implementation called Equinox; the same OSGI-based framework is used for managing its plug-ins at runtime. Eclipse can also be used as a development environment for non-IDE GUI applications, leveraging many of the same plug-ins as the IDE to form a more general Rich Client Platform, called Eclipse RCP.
For C/C++ development, the Eclipse CDT Project provides plug-ins to create a C/C++ development environment within Eclipse IDE.
The Eclipse Web Tools Platform project supplies plug-ins for developing Open web standards-based and Java web applications, and frameworks for building higher-level web tools.
For PHP development, the Eclipse PDT Project provides a plugin to create a PHP development environment within Eclipse IDE, building on features of the Web Tools Platform. The popular commercial Zend Studio is also based on Eclipse IDE.
For Python development, PyDev provides plug-ins, called PyDev, to create a Python development environment within Eclipse IDE.
For Perl development, the EPIC project provides a plugin to create a Perl development environment within Eclipse IDE.
Note that Google has ceased developing the Android Development Tools in favor of another solution.
When combined with Cygwin (or MinGW), Mono, and its many plugins, Eclipse IDE provides a crucial part of viable open-source alternatives to using Microsoft Visual-Studio as a Windows software development platform in Windows, whilst also including comprehensive native support for Java.
Download the latest version of Eclipse IDE from eclipse.org
Download site for the Eclipse Platform project itself, including the core runtime and SDK
Eclipse Marketplace featuring Plug-ins, Bundles and Products
###Useful Links:
- Eclipse Wikipedia Article
- About Eclipse Foundation
- Eclipse vs. NetBeans as Rich Client Platforms
- List Of Older Versions
- FAQ
- Upgrading Eclipse
- Eclipse Tutorials
Within the Stack Overflow community, Eclipse is synonymous with the Java IDE, but that does not mean questions about Java are questions about the IDE.
Consider what changes your question would require if you were using vi to edit and ant to build; if your question would remain unchanged, then it is not an Eclipse question, so you should not give your question the eclipse tag. Use the java tag instead.
Initial release Eclipse (1.0 - 7 November 2001)
Previous Version: Eclipse 2020-12 (4.17.0 - 16 December 2020)
Latest Version: Eclipse 2021-03 (4.18.0 - 17 March 2021)
If you suspect your issue is version specific, list the version in your question.
