How to add different programming languages to Eclipse (C++, C#, Java)

Question

another completely beginner question. I just went through two introductory courses in Java, and I noticed that Eclipse can also support development in other languages (which I didn't know). Does anyone know how to add other languages to Eclipse so that I can switch between IDE's, or do I have to have a completely separate installation of Eclipse per language?

Answer 1

In Eclipse, use the menu Help -> Install new software. Choose "All available sites" in the combo box, wait a moment and then you can explore some other available plugins and languages.

Depending on your version of Eclipse, you might also have a menu item Help -> Eclipse Marketplace. That one is even more comfortable, as it allows you to easily browse all plugins listed in the Eclipse Marketplace. You can also browse the marketplace in your browser and afterwards drag and drop interesting plugins from the browser to your running eclipse (if your version of eclipse is new enough).

Answer 2

Eclipse is a plugin framework......

You have two choices - fortunately the eclipse community saw fit to produce Eclipse in a range of products that will do 99% of what 99% of people want. These distros are good to go. You install them and start work. You can then extend them if you want, but they do all of the basics very well, reliably, out of the box. Installing more than one with eclipse is easy, they do not interfere with each other, and if one turns out to be broken, the rest are not affected.

The other option, is to extend the framework by adding the plugins you want. So you start with an Eclipse distro, and download and install plugins till the cows come home. In the perfect world, this would be the perfect solution. Its not a perfect world..... you have not installed all you plugins and Eclipse suddenly crashes........

Problems occur because sometimes

• Plugins are buggy
• Plugins are incompatible with each other.
• Different plugins rely on different versions of another one (indirectly incompatible).
• Plugins don't work the way the rest of the tool does
• There are just too many plugins to choose from - you don't need most, and the ones you need can be hard to find.

Adding more than a few (probably 1) plugin to Eclipse exposes you to these problems. This is not something for the novice or people who have job not involved in fixing Eclipse. if you have a real reason for it, like your a sadist, or it's your job, or you want it to be your job, to make a team of 100 Devs productive, then plugins are great, otherwise, download a pre-canned, tested, reliable distro and take advantage of the great work by the contributors.