Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 supports the primary Eclipse development toolkits for C/C++ (CDT) and Java (JDT). These toolkits provide a set of integrated tools specific to their respective languages. Both toolkits supply Eclipse GUI interfaces with the required tools for editing, building, running, and debugging source code.
Each toolkit provides custom editors for their respective language. Both CDT and JDT also provide multiple editors for a variety of file types used in a project. For example, the CDT supplies different editors specific for C/C++ header files and source files, along with a Makefile editor.
Toolkit-supplied editors provide error parsing for some file types (without requiring a build), although this may not be available on projects where cross-file dependencies exist. The
CDT source file editor, for example, provides error parsing in the context of a single file, but some errors may only be visible when a complete project is built. Other common features among toolkit-supplied editors are colorization, code folding, and automatic indentation. In some cases, other plug-ins provide advanced editor features such as automatic code completion, hover help, and contextual search; a good example of such a plug-in is
libhover, which adds these extended features to C/C++ editors (refer to
Section 2.2.2, “libhover Plug-in” for more information).
User interfaces for most (if not all) steps in creating a project's target (inary, file, library, etc) are provided by the build functionalities of each toolkit. Each toolkit also provides Eclipse with the means to automate as much of the build process as possible, helping you concentrate more on writing code than building it. Both toolkits also add useful UI elements for finding problems in code preventing a build; for example, Eclipse sends compile errors to the view. For most error types, Eclipse allows you to navigate directly to an error's cause (file and code segment) by simply clicking on its entry in the view.
As is with editors, other plug-ins can also provide extended capabilities for building a project — the
Autotools plug-in, for example, allows you to add portability to a C/C++ project, allowing other developers to build the project in a wide variety of environments (for more information, refer to
Section 4.3, “Autotools”).
For projects with executable/binary targets, each toolkit also supplies run/debug functionalities to Eclipse. In most projects, "run" is simply executed as a "debug" action without interruptions. Both toolkits tie the view to the Eclipse editor, allowing breakpoints to be set. Conversely, triggered breakpoints open their corresponding functions in code in the editor. Variable values can also be explored by clicking their names in the code.
For some projects, build integration is also possible. With this, Eclipse automatically rebuilds a project or installs a "hot patch" if you edit code in the middle of a debugging session. This allows a more streamlined debug-and-correct process, which some developers prefer.
The Eclipse menu provides extensive documentation on both CDT and JDT. For more information on either toolkit, refer to the Java Development User Guide or C/C++ Development User Guide in the Eclipse .
