Eclipse 3 Live

Eclipse 3 Live
| 2004-12-31 00:00:00 | | 0 | Eclipse




User review
Don't buy this if you are using Linux
First of all, I could not download the PDF file using Firefox browser on Linux. My friend kindly downloaded it using her Windows PC. However, I was not able to read it on Linux since it requres Acroread 6.0 or higher. The latest acroread for Linux is still the version 5.0. I thought it would be handy to have the e-book on the machine I write Java programs using Eclipse but it is now just sitting in my friend's Windows PC. Amazon.com should clearly state required OS, software, and hardware to view e-books they sell. I am sorry for the authors but if a book, especially a computer book, is not readable to Linux users, I must say that it is a bad book regardless the contents. I hope that the author complains to the publisher about this situation and that everyone will be able to read this book soon.

User review
Excellent step-by-step instructions for folks new to Eclipse
If you are completely unfamiliar with the Eclipse IDE, while a small tidbit or two may have changed since Eclipse 3.0M6, the edition of Eclipse covered in the May edition of this book, `Eclipse 3 Live` contains the detailed step-by-step instructions to get you started learning the basic features and uses of the Eclipse IDE. The May Edition* of `Eclipse 3 Live` comes in at 274 pages, and didn't take long to download all 16MB at 110 KB/sec, during peak internet hours. `Eclipse 3 Live` includes detailed coverage of Eclipse basics, including the different views and perspectives available for Java source code editing and navigating, as well as running and debugging Java applications. Advanced topics, Ant integration, working in a team with CVS integration, and JUnit, are also covered in detail in their own chapters, while the very important and nice to use refactoring features are described in multiple chapters - two in the current May edition, with a third refactoring chapter on the planning table. SWT, the windowing API used to develop Eclipse, is not covered in much detail, though the author, Bill Dudney, has suggested that he'd welcome requests to add a chapter on SWT. Kudos to the SourceBeat subscription-based model that such reader/author feedback and response can exist.

I'd recommend this book to anyone new to the Eclipse IDE, or otherwise interested in the more advanced features previously mentioned.

* You might have noticed that this book is not available in print edition. The publisher, SourceBeat, instead offers a subscription-based service through their website at SourceBeat.com. $30 gets one access to all editions of a single title for a year, with three titles currently available. Since March, three editions of `Eclipse 3 Live` have been made available. (Only the initial March edition is sold here on Amazon, if I understand correctly.)

A very nice feature of this subscription-based, multiple release model is the author interaction available to readers. Bill Dudney encourages suggestions for future content be sent him through email, while he also maintains a blog for the book (linked from the book's website at SourceBeat.com), where, on occasion, he discusses putting together parts of the book.