Installing Eclipse IDE

Step 1: Navigate to eclipse.org and select the Downloads link.

Figure 4: Figure highlighting the Eclipse Download link.

Step 2: There are a number of different versions of Eclipse, download ‘Eclipse IDE for Java Developers’ (see image below). Eclipse is shipped as a zip file. Unzip the file, and move the “eclipse” directory into a location where you store your programs (e.g. C:\Program Files). In the Eclipse directory there is an executable file (eclipse.exe), create a shortcut on your desktop or other appropriate location to this file. Eclipse does not use the registry and will initialise when you run it for the first time.

Figure 5: Download the IDE for Java Developers (as highlighted in the figure)

Step 3: Launch Eclipse via shortcut or directly by running eclipse.exe to verify the installation. The initial launch screen will show a welcome message (see Figure 6). Click on the curved arrow icon (centre right) to move into the project view.

Figure 6: The initial launch screen of Eclipse

Eclipse IDE uses views to organise information about projects and files that are currently open. (see Figure 7 for the views you will see on first launch). You can customise and configure the views extensively. For our development task, we do not need the Task List view, and hence that can be closed. The Package Explorer view will show the various projects as we work through them — this is where we can navigate the files within one or more projects. The Outline view shows the methods and fields in a class or other open entities — this view is helpful to quickly navigate the currently open file. In the bottom, we have other views that are helpful to identify any errors, and also to see messages.

Figure 7: The default views that are presented when Eclipse launches for the first time.

You can add, remove, and anchor the views at various locations of the screen to suit your needs. For example, I prefer to place the Outline view on the bottom left. You can adjust the location of views by dragging the view to the bottom left part of the screen. When you drag you should see an arrowhead indicating where the view will anchor.

Figure 8: Views can be adjusted by dragging and anchoring them.

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