How to install Eclipse Indigo (3.7.2) SDK on openSUSE 12.1

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Eclipse is one of the most widely used IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for the Java application development. Integrated Development Environment or IDE provides many features such as authoring, modifying, compiling, deploying and debugging software. The aim is to abstract the configuration necessary to piece together command line utilities in a cohesive unit, which theoretically reduces the time to learn a language, and increases developer productivity. It is also thought that the tight integration of development tasks can further increase productivity. For example, code can be parsed while being written, providing instant feedback on syntax errors.

As already you know openSUSE  is the most robust operating for desktop users as well as enterprise users, so this post will help a beginner java programmer in getting started on openSUSE with Eclipse IDE. Eclipse is not only used for developing Java application, it can be used to develop applications in various programming languages including Ada, C, C++, COBOL, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, R, Ruby (including Ruby on Rails framework), Scala, Clojure, Groovy and Scheme. It can also be used to develop packages for the software Mathematica. Development environments include the Eclipse Java development tools (JDT) for Java, Eclipse CDT for C/C++ and Eclipse PDT for PHP, among others. Lot of plugins available for Eclipse so that you can extend ability as much you want.

Install Sun/OpenJDK:

Eclipse requires having the Java VM installed on machine; either Sun Java 6 or OpenJDK should be installed on machine. Install OpenJDK by issuing the following command.

root@geeksite:~ # zypper in java-1_6_0-openjdk-devel

Download the latest Eclipse IDE:

Go to the download page of the eclipse, choose the suitable version for your requirement; here i used the Eclipse IDE for Java Developers and i have selected the 32 bit version for my machine.

Extract the downloaded Eclipse packages ( Example: /opt).

### 32 Bit ###

root@geeksite:~ # tar -zxvf eclipse-SDK-3.7.2-linux-gtk.tar.gz -C /opt

### 64 Bit ###

root@geeksite:~ # tar -zxvf eclipse-SDK-3.7.2-linux-gtk-x86_64.tar.gz -C /opt

Change permissions of the files (Optional).

root@geeksite:~ # chmod 755 -R /opt/eclipse

Create Eclipse IDE  executable (/usr/bin):

create a empty file.

root@geeksite:~ # touch /usr/bin/eclipse

Edit the file

root@geeksite:~ # vi /usr/bin/eclipse

Add the following lines.

#!/bin/sh
/opt/eclipse/eclipse

Make it executable.

root@geeksite:~ # chmod 755 /usr/bin/eclipse

Create menu entry for Eclipse IDE:

If would you like to use the kickoff instead of the command line, here is the step by step to make menu entry for launching Eclipse IDE.

Kickoff  —> Right click on Application —> Edit Applications.

Select the category of the Application ( here i used Development); click on New Item, type the name of the application and then click OK.

Fill up the details such as

Name             : Eclipse SDK 3.7.2

Comment       : Eclipse SDK

Description    : Eclipse SDK

Command      : eclipse

After that browse for the icon image ( /opt/eclipse/icon.xpm) by click on the blank space right next to description box and then click on Save.

Start Eclipse IDE:

Kickoff  —> Applications —> Development —> Eclipse.

Or by command line

root@geeksite:~ # eclipse

Screen Shot of Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers on openSUSE 12.1

That’s all.

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