Eclipse , Part 2 - Getting Started

In last Post ,i have explained how to install and configure Eclipse in local system.

Now i will explain how to start working with eclipse.

To start Eclipse, double-click on the eclipse.exe (Microsoft Windows)  file in the directory where you unpacked Eclipse.

The system will prompt you for a workspace. The workspace is the place in which you work.

Select an empty directory and click the OK button

Eclipse starts and shows the Welcome page. Close this page by clicking the x beside Welcome. 

After closing the welcome screen, the application should look similar to the following screenshot. 

Some Eclipse Terminology, Good to know 

Workspace

The workspace is the physical location you are working in. Your projects, source files, images and other important aspects can be stored and saved in your workspace. The workspace also contains preferences settings, plug-in specific meta data, logs etc.

You typically use different workspaces if you require different settings for your project or if you want to divide your projects into separate directories.

You can choose the workspace during startup of Eclipse or via the menu (File → Switch Workspace → Others) . 

Eclipse Projects

An Eclipse project contains source, configuration and binary files related to a certain task and groups them into buildable and reusable units. An Eclipse project can have some specific natures assigned to it which describe the purpose of this project. For example, the Java nature defines a project as Java project. Projects can have multiple natures combined to model different technical aspects.
Natures for a project are defined via the .project file in the project directory.

 

Views and editors 

The distinction into views and editors is not based on technical differences, but on a different concept of using and arranging these different components provided by eclipse. A view is typically used to work on a set of data, which might be a hierarchical structure.A view sometimes allows us to open an editor for a selected set of data.
An example for a view is the Package Explorer, which allows you to browse the files of Eclipse projects. If you change data in the Package Explorer, e.g., renaming a file, the file name is directly changed on the file system.
Editors are typically used to modify a single data element, e.g., the content of a file or a data object. To apply the changes made in an editor to the data structure, the user has to explicitly save the editor content.
For example, the Java editor is used to modify Java source files. Changes to the source file are applied once the user selects the Save command. A unsaved editor tab is marked with an asterisk to the left of the modified name of the file.

Perspective
A perspective is a visual container for a set of parts. Perspectives can be used to store different arrangements of different user interface. 
For example, the Eclipse IDE uses them to layout the views appropriate to the task (development, debugging, review, ...) the developer wants to perform.
Open editors are typically shared between perspectives, i.e., if you have an editor open in the Java perspective for a certain class and switch to the Debug perspective, this editor stays open.

You can switch Perspectives via the Window → Open Perspective → Other... menu entry.
The main perspectives used for Java development are the Java perspective and the Debug perspective.

                                                                                                                        

To open a new part in your current perspective, use the Window → Show View → Other... menu entry. The following Show View dialog allows you to search for certain parts.  

The Window → Customize Perspective... menu entry allows you to adjust the selected perspective . For example, you can hide or show toolbar and menu entries.