Re: [wmii] Why does Eclipse float?

Steffen Liebergeld wrote:
> On 8/8/06, Kai Grossjohann <kai.grossjohann_AT_verizonbusiness.com> wrote:
>
>> When I start Eclipse, its main window floats. Why?
>>
>
> My guess is that it requests to be float. Just check it with xprop.
>
(I wouldn't know which part of the output of xprop tells me whether it
requested to float. But Bill explained that Eclipse sets its own geometry.)

> The point is: eclipse is a pile of shit and nobody should be forced to use it.
I beg to differ. It offers very useful functionality for Java coding.
Not everyone likes Java, but for a Java developer it is very useful.

I used to use Emacs for more than ten years, but then I tried Eclipse
and I found that it offers a real benefit for Java coding. (I have to
use the vi plugin, though, to get bearable keybindings in the Eclipse
editor.)

The following three things I like best about Eclipse:

    * Code completion. Emacs (with JDEE) has this, too, but Eclipse
      does it better.
    * Context-driven support for fixing compilation errors. Just hit
      Ctrl-1 on a compilation error and Eclipse offers you suggestions
      on fixing it. I use this as a method to perform code completion:
      I intentionally omit necessary casts, for example, knowing that
      Ctrl-1 is a quicker way to add them rather then typing them myself.
    * Refactoring support. It allows me to move things around (such as
      moving a class to a different package, or renaming a class, or
      renaming a method, or moving a method to a different class), and I
      am always sure that it fixes all the code properly. For instance,
      after renaming a method, I know that Eclipse will always adjust
      all places where that method is called. And Eclipse will not goof
      up on places that call different methods that just happen to have
      the same name.

I implemented some poor support for the second of the three items for
Emacs/JDEE, but that is not good enough.

I looked at its C support and was less impressed, but perhaps that will
get better over time.

Kai
Received on Tue Aug 08 2006 - 19:32:32 UTC