Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@maxandersen

maxandersen/gist:ef984b15e8d07eb32f06 Secret

Last active December 28, 2015 00:39
Show Gist options
  • Save maxandersen/ef984b15e8d07eb32f06 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save maxandersen/ef984b15e8d07eb32f06 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
notes from eclipse bof
Raw
gistfile1.asciidoc

Let’s make Eclipse Fun Again - the BOF

At EclipseCon Europe Martin Lippert (Pivotal), Mikael, Gunnar and I (Red Hat) hosted a Bird-of-Feather (BOF) as a continuation of our "Let’s Make Eclipse IDE Fun Again"-talk.

The BOF was there to gather input on how to make Eclipse Fun again and to spread the word about the current idea brewing about an Eclipse working group.

This blog is my recap of what was discussed/highlighted at this BOF.

Issues raised

During the BOF we noted down on a whiteboard various issues the audience would like see fixed. Unfortunately this whiteboard got lost during the evening - if anyone had a chance to take a photo please send it to me.

Therefore the following is just me noting by memory the various concerns expressed by the audience in no particular order.

What is wrong with Eclipse:

  • Eclipse UI is ugly, not user-friendly.

    Examples given included:

    • Dragging a view or editor uses a mint green outline dragging indicator

    • At times views get lost/confused.

    • too many views, some badly named, others great but not easy to find.

  • Finding plugins is tedious/error prone

  • Updating plugins are tricky

  • Eclipse should support multiple languages better

    Many questioned why the default behavior for unknown files in Eclipse result in Eclipse opening the system editor instead. Why can’t it at least provide basic syntax highlighting ?

  • JDT completion is slow

    I have to press '.' or ctrl+space or wait a bit (200 ms by default) - in other IDE’s it is just there. Some were mentioning there were users moving from other IDE’s not even being aware eclipse had code completion because it was something you had to do manually.

  • Eclipse is or feels slow

    The issue reported was "Eclipse is slow", I put "feels slow" here since the reason for a user experience something as slow can be a multitude of things (3rd part plugins, something specfic in his project, memory, cpu etc.) - but there was a general agreement that Eclipse at least felt like it was definitely not getting any faster.

  • There are too many downloads

What should Eclipse IDE Group do:

  • Provide a curated marketplace

  • Outline roadmap of IDE related improvements and help it to be executed

  • Make it easier to contribute code/fixes

  • Support contributors and make their lives easier

  • Create a "kickstarter" page for eclipse bugs/"micro"-funding of bugs

  • Create an Uber distribution/package (one to rule them all)

  • Create an IDE focused distribution/package

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment