Getting a lightweight installation of Java Eclipse

Question

Having dealt with yet another stupid eclipse problem, I want to try to get the lightest, most minimal Eclipse installation as possible.

To be clear, I use eclipse for two things:

• Editing Java
• Debugging Java

Everything else I do through Emacs/Zsh (editing JSP/XML/JS, file management, SVN check-in, etc). I have not found any aspect of working in Eclipse to do these tasks to be efficient or even reliable, so I do not want plug-ins that relate to it.

From the eclipse.org site, this is the lightest install of eclipse that they have, and I don't want any of those things (Bugzilla, Mylyn, CVS xml_ui), and have actually had problems with each of them even though I do not use them.

So what is the minimal build I can get that will:

1. Ignore SVN metadata
2. Includes the full-featured editor (intellisense and type-finding)
3. Includes the full-featured debugger (standard Eclipse/JDK)

Does not have any extra plug-ins, platforms, or "integrations" with other platforms, specifically, I don't want to deal with plug-ins relating to:

Maven, JSP Validation, Javascript editing or validation, CVS or SVN, Mylyn, Spring or Hibernate "natures", app servers like a bundled Tomcat/GlassFish/etc, J2EE tools, or anything of the like.

I do primarily Spring/Hibernate/web-mvc apps, and have never dealt with an Eclipse plug-in that handles any of it gracefully, I can work effectively with my own toolset, but Eclipse extensions do nothing but get in the way.

I have worked with plain eclipse up to Ganymede, MyEclipse (up to 7.5), and the latest version of Spring-SourceTools, and find that they are all saddled with buggy useless plug-ins (though the combination is always different).

Switching to NetBeans/Intellij is not an option, and my teammates work with SVN-controlled .class/.project files, so it pretty much has to be Eclipse.

Does anyone have any good advice on how I can save a few grey hairs?

Answer 1

You can download the empty Eclipse platform and then manually install the JDT tools.

1. Go to the The Eclipse Project Downloads page.
2. Choose the bundle you want, probably Latest Release.
3. On the download page of the chosen bundle:
   1. Download Platform Runtime Binary
   2. Download JDT Runtime Binary
4. Extract the Platform Runtime Binary archive file and run it (for example, by double clicking on eclipse.exe).
5. Install the JDT binary:
   1. Click Help → Install New Software → Add... → Archive.
   2. Choose the JDT zip file you downloaded.
   3. Uncheck Group Items by category.
   4. Select the Eclipse Java Development Tools.
   5. Click next to install and restart Eclipse when prompted.

---

JDT from the Eclipse update site

You can also install JDT from the Eclipse update site, instead of downloading the binary.

To do this, do this following:

1. Skip downloading the JDT Runtime Binary, only download, extract and run the Platform Runtime Binary.
2. Go to the Install New Software, but instead of Archive chose the Eclipse download site.
3. Search and install Eclipse Java Development Tools.

Answer 2

The "Eclipse IDE for Java Developers" version isn't the smallest one! Look for "Eclipse Classic" - it doesn't contain most of the things you mentioned. It's larger in download size only, because it comes with source code.

See this comparison: http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/compare.php