Eclipse Helios

Going through the Helios Reviews I see that a number of bloggers have said good things about the new features in JDT :)

If you have not yet seen the new features of JDT then check out the 10 minute demo I recorded last month. This video shows what's new in JDT for Eclipse 3.6, the Helios release.What's shown in the video is just a part of all the new stuff within JDT. For more information see the 'What's New' document in the Java development user guide.

My favorite features being

• Java breakpoint detail - No more opening a new dialog for editing breakpoint properties, I just love this one.

• Package name abbreviations - This is a simple but very useful improvement, makes the Package Explorer a lot less cluttered.

• Remove nodes from Call Hierarchy - While this is useful now, it should become better once Bug 304135 (Allow to pin Call Hierarchy) gets fixed.
  

• Fix multiple problems via problem hover - This saves a lot of effort.

Work on Eclipse Indigo is already in full swing with M1 coming up next week. Some nice features have been implemented in M1, bugs - 78522 , 277862 , 315772 , 320876 , 310470.

Too many options in Eclipse?

At times I wonder if we have too many actions, key bindings, preferences etc in Eclipse. I mean a beginner would probably find  number of key bindings in the Ctrl+Shift+L pop-up overwhelming. This pop-up lists a number of 'Show View' key bindings, but I think listing only Quick Access (Ctrl+3) should suffice - at least for beginners.

This raises another question - how many users of Eclipse are beginners, how many some what comfortable, how many expert. I would assume a significant number in each category. Maybe we should have beginner, intermediate, expert modes/perspectives. For example in the beginner mode we can hide (not disable) the actions and preferences which are typically used by power users.