bundles/org.eclipse.platform.doc.isv/guide/int_eclipse.htm - gerrit/platform/eclipse.platform.common - Git at Google

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 What is Eclipse?
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 <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">
 <H2>
 What is Eclipse?</H2>
 <P >
  Eclipse is a platform that has been designed from the ground up for building integrated web and application development tooling. By design, the platform does not provide a great deal of
 end user functionality by itself. The value of the platform is what it encourages: rapid development of integrated features based on a
 <b> plug-in</b> model.</P>
 <P >
 Eclipse provides a common user interface (UI) model for working with tools.&nbsp; It is designed
 to run on multiple operating systems while providing robust integration with
 each underlying OS.&nbsp; Plug-ins can program to the Eclipse portable APIs and
 run unchanged on any of the supported operating systems.&nbsp;</P>
 <P >
 At the core of Eclipse is an architecture for dynamic discovery, loading, and running of plug-ins. The
 platform handles the logistics of finding and running the right code.  The platform UI provides a standard
 user navigation model.&nbsp; Each plug-in can then focus on doing a small number of tasks well. What
 kinds of tasks? Defining, testing, animating, publishing, compiling, debugging,
 diagramming...the
 only limit is your imagination.</P>

 <H3>
 Open architecture</H3>
 <P >
 The Eclipse platform defines an open architecture so that each plug-in development team can focus on their
 area of expertise. Let the repository experts build the back ends and the usability experts build the end
 user tools. If the platform is designed well, significant new features and levels of integration can be
 added without impact to other tools.</P>
 <P >
 The Eclipse platform uses the model of a common workbench to integrate the tools from the end user's point of view. Tools that you develop can
 plug into the workbench using well defined hooks called <b>extension points</b>.</P>
 <P >
 The platform itself is built in layers of plug-ins, each one defining extensions to the extension points of
 lower-level plug-ins, and in turn defining their own extension points for further customization.  This extension
 model allows plug-in developers to add a variety of functionality to the basic tooling platform. The artifacts for each
 tool, such as files and other data, are coordinated by a common platform resource model.</P>
 <P >
 The platform gives the users a common way to work with the tools, and provides integrated management o
 f the resources they create with plug-ins. </P>
 <P >Plug-in developers also gain from this architecture.&nbsp; The platform
 manages the complexity of different runtime environments, such as different
 operating systems or workgroup server environments.&nbsp; Plug-in
 developers can focus on their specific task instead of worrying about these
 integration issues.</P>


 <H3>
 Platform structure</H3>
 <P >
 The Eclipse platform itself is structured as subsystems which are implemented in
 one or more plug-ins.&nbsp; The subsystems are built on top of a small runtime engine.
 The figure below depicts a simplified view.   </P>

 <P >
 <img src="images/arch-npi.svg" alt="Platform runtime base with groups of plug-ins adding function" border="0" > </P>

 <P >
 The plug-ins that make up a subsystem define extension points for adding behavior to the
 platform.&nbsp; The following table describes the major runtime components of the platform that
 are implemented as one or more plug-ins. </P>

 <table border="1" width="100%">
   <tr>
     <td width="29%">

 <H4>
 Platform runtime</H4>
     </td>
     <td width="71%">Defines the extension point and plug-in model. It dynamically
       discovers plug-ins and maintains information about the plug-ins and their extension points
       in a platform registry.
       Plug-ins are started up when required according to user operation of the
       platform.  The runtime is implemented using the OSGi framework.</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="29%">
 <H4>Resource management (workspace)</H4>
     </td>
     <td width="71%">Defines API for creating and managing resources (projects,
       files, and folders) that are produced by tools and kept in the file system.</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="29%">
 <H4>
 Workbench UI</H4>
     </td>
     <td width="71%">Implements the user cockpit for navigating the platform. It defines extension points for adding UI components such as views or menu actions.&nbsp;
       It supplies additional toolkits (JFace and SWT) for building user
       interfaces. The UI services are structured so that a subset of the UI plug-ins can be used to build rich client applications that are
       independent of the resource management and workspace model.  IDE-centric plug-ins define additional functionality for
       navigating and manipulating resources.</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="29%">


 <H4>
 Help system</H4>
     </td>
     <td width="71%">Defines extension points for plug-ins to provide help or
       other documentation as browsable books.</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="40%">


 <H4>Team support</H4>
     </td>
     <td width="60%">Defines a team programming model for managing and versioning resources.&nbsp;</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="40%">


 <h4>Debug support</h4>
     </td>
     <td width="60%">Defines a language independent debug model and UI classes
       for building debuggers and launchers.</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="40%">

 <h4>Other utilities</h4>
     </td>
     <td width="60%">Other utility plug-ins supply functionality such as searching and comparing resources, performing builds using XML configuration files,
     and dynamically updating the platform from a server.</td>
   </tr>
 </table>


 <H3>
 Out of the box</H3>
 <P >
 Out of the box - or off the web - the basic platform is an integrated development environment (IDE) for anything (and nothing in particular). </P>
 <P >
 <img src="images/emptyworkbench.png" alt="Workbench window" border="0"></P>
 <P >
 It's the plug-ins that determine the ultimate functionality of the platform.&nbsp;
 That's why the Eclipse SDK ships with additional plug-ins to enhance the
 functionality of the SDK.</P>
 <P >
 Your plug-ins can provide support for editing and manipulating additional types of
 resources such as Java files, C programs, Word documents, HTML pages, and JSP files.</P>


 </BODY>
 </HTML>
	<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"><html lang="en">
	<HEAD>

	<meta name="copyright" content="Copyright (c) IBM Corporation and others 2000, 2005. This page is made available under license. For full details see the LEGAL in the documentation book that contains this page." >

	<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
	<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Style-Type" CONTENT="text/css">

	<LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="../book.css" CHARSET="ISO-8859-1" TYPE="text/css">
	<TITLE>
	What is Eclipse?
	</TITLE>

	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" HREF="../book.css">
	</HEAD>
	<BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">
	<H2>
	What is Eclipse?</H2>
	<P >
	Eclipse is a platform that has been designed from the ground up for building integrated web and application development tooling. By design, the platform does not provide a great deal of
	end user functionality by itself. The value of the platform is what it encourages: rapid development of integrated features based on a
	<b> plug-in</b> model.</P>
	<P >
	Eclipse provides a common user interface (UI) model for working with tools.  It is designed
	to run on multiple operating systems while providing robust integration with
	each underlying OS.  Plug-ins can program to the Eclipse portable APIs and
	run unchanged on any of the supported operating systems. </P>
	<P >
	At the core of Eclipse is an architecture for dynamic discovery, loading, and running of plug-ins. The
	platform handles the logistics of finding and running the right code. The platform UI provides a standard
	user navigation model.  Each plug-in can then focus on doing a small number of tasks well. What
	kinds of tasks? Defining, testing, animating, publishing, compiling, debugging,
	diagramming...the
	only limit is your imagination.</P>

	<H3>
	Open architecture</H3>
	<P >
	The Eclipse platform defines an open architecture so that each plug-in development team can focus on their
	area of expertise. Let the repository experts build the back ends and the usability experts build the end
	user tools. If the platform is designed well, significant new features and levels of integration can be
	added without impact to other tools.</P>
	<P >
	The Eclipse platform uses the model of a common workbench to integrate the tools from the end user's point of view. Tools that you develop can
	plug into the workbench using well defined hooks called <b>extension points</b>.</P>
	<P >
	The platform itself is built in layers of plug-ins, each one defining extensions to the extension points of
	lower-level plug-ins, and in turn defining their own extension points for further customization. This extension
	model allows plug-in developers to add a variety of functionality to the basic tooling platform. The artifacts for each
	tool, such as files and other data, are coordinated by a common platform resource model.</P>
	<P >
	The platform gives the users a common way to work with the tools, and provides integrated management o
	f the resources they create with plug-ins. </P>
	<P >Plug-in developers also gain from this architecture.  The platform
	manages the complexity of different runtime environments, such as different
	operating systems or workgroup server environments.  Plug-in
	developers can focus on their specific task instead of worrying about these
	integration issues.</P>



	<H3>
	Platform structure</H3>
	<P >
	The Eclipse platform itself is structured as subsystems which are implemented in
	one or more plug-ins.  The subsystems are built on top of a small runtime engine.
	The figure below depicts a simplified view. </P>

	<P >
	<img src="images/arch-npi.svg" alt="Platform runtime base with groups of plug-ins adding function" border="0" > </P>

	<P >
	The plug-ins that make up a subsystem define extension points for adding behavior to the
	platform.  The following table describes the major runtime components of the platform that
	are implemented as one or more plug-ins. </P>

	<table border="1" width="100%">
	<tr>
	<td width="29%">

	<H4>
	Platform runtime</H4>
	</td>
	<td width="71%">Defines the extension point and plug-in model. It dynamically
	discovers plug-ins and maintains information about the plug-ins and their extension points
	in a platform registry.
	Plug-ins are started up when required according to user operation of the
	platform. The runtime is implemented using the OSGi framework.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td width="29%">
	<H4>Resource management (workspace)</H4>
	</td>
	<td width="71%">Defines API for creating and managing resources (projects,
	files, and folders) that are produced by tools and kept in the file system.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td width="29%">
	<H4>
	Workbench UI</H4>
	</td>
	<td width="71%">Implements the user cockpit for navigating the platform. It defines extension points for adding UI components such as views or menu actions.
	It supplies additional toolkits (JFace and SWT) for building user
	interfaces. The UI services are structured so that a subset of the UI plug-ins can be used to build rich client applications that are
	independent of the resource management and workspace model. IDE-centric plug-ins define additional functionality for
	navigating and manipulating resources.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td width="29%">


	<H4>
	Help system</H4>
	</td>
	<td width="71%">Defines extension points for plug-ins to provide help or
	other documentation as browsable books.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td width="40%">


	<H4>Team support</H4>
	</td>
	<td width="60%">Defines a team programming model for managing and versioning resources. </td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td width="40%">


	<h4>Debug support</h4>
	</td>
	<td width="60%">Defines a language independent debug model and UI classes
	for building debuggers and launchers.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td width="40%">

	<h4>Other utilities</h4>
	</td>
	<td width="60%">Other utility plug-ins supply functionality such as searching and comparing resources, performing builds using XML configuration files,
	and dynamically updating the platform from a server.</td>
	</tr>
	</table>



	<H3>
	Out of the box</H3>
	<P >
	Out of the box - or off the web - the basic platform is an integrated development environment (IDE) for anything (and nothing in particular). </P>
	<P >
	<img src="images/emptyworkbench.png" alt="Workbench window" border="0"></P>
	<P >
	It's the plug-ins that determine the ultimate functionality of the platform.
	That's why the Eclipse SDK ships with additional plug-ins to enhance the
	functionality of the SDK.</P>
	<P >
	Your plug-ins can provide support for editing and manipulating additional types of
	resources such as Java files, C programs, Word documents, HTML pages, and JSP files.</P>


	</BODY>
	</HTML>