Where is Eclipse empty shell edition?

Question

There're so many Eclipse editions. I don't know well in structure of Eclipse IDE, but as I know, Eclipse is basically an empty frame for strong plug-ins. This means there should be an empty shell edition, but I couldn't find it. Most basic editions already contain many tools in it.

Where is it? And how can I obtain it?

Answer 1

I think you're referring to the Rich Client Platform? You'll need to download the RCP SDK to get started, then when the time comes to deploy check out the FAQ for what you need.

Answer 2

As mention in the recent serie "Eclipse is…", Eclipse is a bit more than "an empty frame for strong plug-ins". It is also:

• A Java IDE;
• An IDE Framework;
• A Tools Framework;
• An Application Framework;
• Runtimes;
• Open Source Projects;
• A Community;
• An Eco-system;
• A Foundation; and
• More?

You can see all the Helios packages (distributions) here, the smallest one being the Eclipse IDE for Java Developers (99MB).
You can compare those packages in term of content.

Only the RCP edition would allow you to build a minimal RCP application, like the one presented in this RCP tutorial:

alt text http://www.vogella.de/articles/EclipseRCP/images/firstrcp70.gif