Please send comments about this draft plan to the eclipse-dev@eclipse.org developer mailing list.
This document lays out the feature and API set for the next feature release of the Eclipse SDK after 3.3, designated release 3.4.
Plans do not materialize out of nowhere, nor are they entirely static. To ensure the planning process is transparent and open to the entire Eclipse community, we (the Eclipse Project PMC) post plans in an embryonic form and revise them throughout the release cycle.
The first part of the plan deals with the important matters of release deliverables, release milestones, target operating environments, and release-to-release compatibility. These are all things that need to be clear for any release, even if no features were to change.
The remainder of the plan consists of plan items for all of the sub-projects under the top level Eclipse Project. Each plan item covers a feature or API that is to be added to the Eclipse Project deliverables, or some aspect of the Eclipse Project that is to be improved. Each plan item has its own entry in the Eclipse bugzilla database, with a title and a concise summary (usually a single paragraph) that explains the work item at a suitably high enough level so that everyone can readily understand what the work item is without having to understand the nitty-gritty detail.
Not all plan items represent the same amount of work; some may be quite large, others, quite small. Some plan items may involve work that is localized to a single component; others may involve coordinated changes to several components; other may pervade the entire SDK. Although some plan items are for work that is more pressing than others, the plan items appear in no particular order.
With the previous release as the starting point, this is the plan for how we will enhance and improve it. Fixing bugs, improving test coverage, documentation, examples, performance tuning, usability, etc. are considered routine ongoing maintenance activities and are not included in this plan unless they would also involve a significant change to the API or feature set, or involve a significant amount of work. The intent of the plan is to account for all interesting feature work.
The current status of each plan item is noted:
The release deliverables have the same form as previous releases, namely:
Release milestones, occurring at roughly 6 week intervals, exist to facilitate coarse-grained planning and staging. The milestones are:
Our target is to complete 3.4 in late June 2008. All release deliverables will be available for download as soon as the release has been tested and validated in the target operating configurations listed below.
In order to remain current, each Eclipse release targets reasonably current operating environments.
Most of the Eclipse SDK is "pure" Java code and has no direct dependence on the underlying operating system. The chief dependence is therefore on the Java Platform itself. Portions of the Eclipse SDK (including the RCP base, SWT, OSGi and JDT core plug-ins) are targeted to specific classes of operating environments, requiring their source code to only reference facilities available in particular class libraries (e.g. J2ME Foundation 1.0, J2SE 1.3 and 1.4, etc.).
In general, the 3.4 release of the Eclipse Project is developed on a mix of Java 1.4 and Java5 VMs. As such, the Eclipse Project SDK as a whole is targeted at both 1.4 and Java5 VMs, with full functionality available for 1.4 level development everywhere, and new Java5 specific capabilities available when running on a Java5 VM. Similarly, in cases where support has been added for Java6 specific features (e.g. JSR-199, JSR-269, etc.) Java6 VMs are required.
Appendix 1 contains a table that indicates the class library level required for each plug-in.
There are many different implementations of the Java Platform running atop a variety of operating systems. We focus Eclipse SDK testing on a handful of popular combinations of operating system and Java Platform; these are our reference platforms. Eclipse undoubtedly runs fine in many operating environments beyond the reference platforms we test, including those using Java6 VMs. However, since we do not systematically test them we cannot vouch for them. Problems encountered when running Eclipse on a non-reference platform that cannot be recreated on any reference platform will be given lower priority than problems with running Eclipse on a reference platform.
The Eclipse SDK 3.4 is tested and validated on the following reference platforms (this list is updated over the course of the release cycle):
Reference Platforms |
Microsoft Windows Vista, x86-32, Win32 running (any of):
|
Microsoft Windows XP, x86-32, Win32 running (any of):
|
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, x86-32, GTK running (any of):
|
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, x86-32, GTK running (any
of):
|
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0 update 2, x86-64, GTK running:
|
Sun Solaris 10, SPARC, GTK running:
|
IBM AIX 5.3, Power, Motif 2.1 running:
|
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0 update 2, Power, GTK running:
|
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, Power, GTK running:
|
Apple Mac OS X ![]()
|
Because Java 1.4.2 and Java5 based platforms are used for most Eclipse development, those platforms are listed here. Although there are teams doing some Java 6 based development we have not included specific Java6 VMs, since they have not yet received the general level of testing we require. We expect that Eclipse will work fine on other current Java VMs running on window systems supported by SWT, but can not flag these as reference platforms without significant community support for testing them.
Similarly, although untested, the Eclipse SDK should work fine on other OSes that support the same window system. For Win32: NT, 2000, and Server 2003; SWT HTML viewer requires Internet Explorer 5 (or higher). For GTK on other Linux systems: version 2.2.1 of the GTK+ widget toolkit and associated libraries (GLib, Pango); SWT HTML viewer requires Mozilla 1.4GTK2. For Motif on Linux systems: Open Motif 2.1 (included); SWT HTML viewer requires Mozilla 1.4GTK2.
SWT is also supported on the QNX Neutrino operating system, x86 processor, Photon window system, and IBM J9™ VM. Eclipse 3.4 on Windows or Linux can be used to cross-develop QNX applications. (Eclipse 3.4 is unavailable on QNX because there is currently no 1.5 J2SE for QNX.)
The Eclipse SDK is designed as the basis for internationalized products. The user interface elements provided by the Eclipse SDK components, including dialogs and error messages, are externalized. The English strings are provided as the default resource bundles.
Latin-1 and DBCS locales are supported by the Eclipse SDK on all reference platforms; BIDI locales are supported by the Eclipse SDK everywhere but on Motif.
The Eclipse SDK supports GB 18030 (level 1), the Chinese code page standard, on Windows XP and 2000, Linux/GTK and the Macintosh.
German and Japanese locales are tested.
Eclipse 3.4 will be compatible with Eclipse 3.3 (and, hence, with 3.2, 3.1 and 3.0).
API Contract Compatibility: Eclipse SDK 3.4 will be upwards contract-compatible with Eclipse SDK 3.3 except in those areas noted in the Eclipse 3.4 Plug-in Migration Guide. Programs that use affected APIs and extension points will need to be ported to Eclipse SDK 3.4 APIs. Downward contract compatibility is not supported. There is no guarantee that compliance with Eclipse SDK 3.4 APIs would ensure compliance with Eclipse SDK 3.3 APIs. Refer to Evolving Java-based APIs for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that maintain contract compatibility.
Binary (plug-in) Compatibility: Eclipse SDK 3.4 will be upwards binary-compatible with Eclipse SDK 3.3 except in those areas noted in the Eclipse 3.4 Plug-in Migration Guide. Downward plug-in compatibility is not supported. Plug-ins for Eclipse SDK 3.4 will not be usable in Eclipse SDK 3.3. Refer to Evolving Java-based APIs for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that maintain binary compatibility.
Source Compatibility: Eclipse SDK 3.4 will be upwards source-compatible with Eclipse SDK 3.3 except in the areas noted in the Eclipse 3.4 Plug-in Migration Guide. This means that source files written to use Eclipse SDK 3.3 APIs might successfully compile and run against Eclipse SDK 3.4 APIs, although this is not guaranteed. Downward source compatibility is not supported. If source files use new Eclipse SDK APIs, they will not be usable with an earlier version of the Eclipse SDK.
Workspace Compatibility: Eclipse SDK 3.4 will be upwards workspace-compatible with Eclipse SDK 3.3 unless noted. This means that workspaces and projects created with Eclipse SDK 3.3, 3.2, 3.1 or 3.0 can be successfully opened by Eclipse SDK 3.4 and upgraded to a 3.4 workspace. This includes both hidden metadata, which is localized to a particular workspace, as well as metadata files found within a workspace project (e.g., the .project file), which may propagate between workspaces via file copying or team repositories. Individual plug-ins developed for Eclipse SDK 3.4 should provide similar upwards compatibility for their hidden and visible workspace metadata created by earlier versions; 3.4 plug-in developers are responsible for ensuring that their plug-ins recognize 3.3, 3.2, 3.1, 3.0, 2.1, and 2.0 metadata and process it appropriately. User interface session state may be discarded when a workspace is upgraded. Downward workspace compatibility is not supported. A workspace created (or opened) by a product based on Eclipse 3.4 will be unusable with a product based an earlier version of Eclipse. Visible metadata files created (or overwritten) by Eclipse 3.4 will generally be unusable with earlier versions of Eclipse.
Non-compliant usage of API's: All non-API methods and classes, and certainly everything in a package with "internal" in its name, are considered implementation details which may vary between operating environment and are subject to change without notice. Client plug-ins that directly depend on anything other than what is specified in the Eclipse SDK API are inherently unsupportable and receive no guarantees about compatibility within a single release much less with earlier releases. Refer to How to Use the Eclipse API for information about how to write compliant plug-ins.
The PMC of the Eclipse Project has identified four major areas of work, that will be the priorities for this development cycle. These areas will address the major themes identified by the Eclipse Requirements Council (Eclipse 2007 Themes and Priorities).
Although there are four projects under the top-level Eclipse Project, there is a significant amount of commonality and shared effort between them. In general, many plan items involve coordinated changes to multiple components, and thus attempting to separate the items into sections based on sub-project leads to artificial distinctions between them (e.g., Platform Text vs. JDT Text, Platform Debug vs. JDT Debug, etc.).
In order to provide the clearest focus for our development effort, we have organized the items below into sections based on the work area they are intended to address. Items that apply to multiple work areas are categorized based on where the most effort is expected to occur. In all cases, the items listed reflect new features of Eclipse or areas where existing features will be significantly reworked. Numbers in parentheses link to bugzilla problem reports where progress on that item can be tracked and discussed.
The major work areas are:
This work is focused on ensuring that Eclipse takes full advantage of the capabilities of the underlying technologies that it is based on, be they operating system, window system, Java or other.
(
committed) Port SWT win32 to 64-bit. The SWT win32 port should be ported to run on 64-bit editions of Windows using 64-bit JREs. [SWT] (200081)
(
committed) Support BIDI on Linux GTK. In Eclipse 3.3, SWT fully supported BIDI locales on Windows, but only allowed entering and displaying BIDI text on Linux GTK. Add the missing BIDI support for SWT Linux GTK. [SWT] (200083)
(
committed) Provide full internationalization on Mac OS X. In earlier releases of Eclipse, SWT did not address fully support internationalization on Mac OS X. Add the missing DBCS and BIDI support for SWT Mac OS X. [SWT] (200085)
(
committed) Implement accessibility for Mac OS X. In Eclipse 3.3, SWT Mac OS X accessibility was not addressed. Implement the SWT accessibility APIs on Mac OS X. [SWT] (200086)
Complete SWT WPF port. An early access version of the SWT port for Windows Presentation Framework (WPF) was included with Eclipse 3.3. Complete the SWT WPF port: add missing features; improve performance. [SWT] (200082)
Exploit the capabilities of modern JREs. Fully support and exploit the capabilities of modern JREs. Example work areas would be more Java 5 and Java 6 functionality; improved support for Apache Harmony, IBM J9, Foundation Profile 1.1; Launcher improvements; etc. [JDT Core, JDT UI] (200087)
None at this time.
(End of items for Platforms.)
This work will make it easier for users to get Eclipse, install it on their systems, and configure it for their use. It will also enhance the error handling and reporting mechanisms to make it easier to service Eclipse in the field. Finally, it will improve the scalability and performance of Eclipse, to provide a better experience for users working with many plug-ins and large data sets.
(
committed) Improve performance of large, Eclipse-based products. We will investigate the scalability of Eclipse in areas, such as startup time and memory footprint, with a focus on improving the overall experience when working with large, Eclipse-based products. [All] (200102)
(
committed) Serviceability. We will continue the work, begun in R3.3, to make it easier for end users to identify and report runtime problems to the team responsible for the failing component. [Platform UI, Equinox] (200090)
Provide additional product level configurability. "Layered" products (i.e. products that are built by composing other products) need more control over the ways that the products they are built from "show through" in the final result. To address this, we will provide additional, product-level configurability in the user-interface, as well as increase the flexibility of commonly used views, such as the markers view. [Platform UI, Equinox] (200088)
Provisioning. We will design and deliver a provisioning platform on top of which we will create a replacement for the current Update Manager. The provisioning platform will allow others to create provisioning systems to meet the needs of large and small enterprises and systems. [Equinox] (200089)
None at this time.
(End of items for Consumability.)
As the basis for the entire Eclipse eco-system, the Eclipse SDK must be robust, flexible and secure. This work will address those issues by providing API for missing or currently internal functionality, and focusing on the issues that effect the stability of the platform.
(
committed) Provide API for missing/internal features. We will identify areas where applications built on Eclipse currently must invoke internal functionality in order to provide good integration with the SDK. We will address these cases by creating proper, API-quality equivalents or otherwise removing the dependencies on internals. [All] (200100)
(
committed) Focus on architectural integrity. We will explicitly focus on identifying and fixing places where significant bugs or incomplete implementations have caused problems for our consumers. The intent is to make a significant investment in fixing these issues. [All] (200099)
(
committed) API Tooling. We will improve existing API tools and create new ones, so that plug-in developers will be able to easily identify their API (and internal) dependencies, the clients of their API, cases where they have broken binary compatibility as well as situations where changes to their internals will break others. The tooling will also support the management and updating of bundle and perhaps package version numbers in accordance with the bundle versioning guidelines used by Eclipse. [PDE, JDT] (200098)
(
committed) Provide commonly requested Java security features. We will add support for security facilities such as JAAS, JCA, keystore, credentials, and signature validation. [Equinox] (200091)
Invest in PDE Build and Release Engineering. We will address issues related to the reproducibility of our builds, and make it easier for others to make use of our build technology. [PDE, Rel. Eng.] (200092)
None at this time.
(End of items for Reliability.)
Eclipse is well-established as the cross-platform IDE of choice, but it has become much more than that. The extensive and diverse range of applications that are being built on the Eclipse code base, and the constantly changing capabilities of the underlying systems on which it runs, are driving us to push the limits of our technology in almost every dimension. This work area marks the start of a new, multi-year focus on innovation, to ensure that the Eclipse SDK continues to be a vibrant, powerful, dynamic basis for our community's use.
(
committed) Create the Eclipse 4.0 plan. We will identify the goals, scope, timeframe and major features of the next major version of the Eclipse SDK. To do this, we need to understand exactly how and when a new major release of Eclipse can be delivered, including what its relationship will be to the ongoing Eclipse 3.x development. We also need to identify the current and future needs of our consumers. And finally, we need to create a coherent plan to address these needs, so that we can begin to satisfy them once R3.4 is released. [All] (200097)
(
committed) OSGi standards participation. We will invest in the future of OSGi by monitoring and participating in the Enterprise Expert Group work (e.g., Provisioning, Launching, Logging (serviceability)) and ongoing framework specification work. [Equinox] (200093)
(
committed) Investigate new user-interface directions. User-interface state-of-the-art is constantly evolving and changing as the capabilities of the underlying platforms increase. We will investigate the use of these capabilities within Eclipse. Potential work areas include: skinning, scripting, resolution-independent graphics, better desktop integration, and web-based presentations. [SWT, Platform UI] (200095)
Model the IDE. The functionality of the Eclipse Workbench and IDE have grown significantly since they were created. In some cases, older capabilities have been superceded by newer ones or have been proven to be unwieldy or otherwise unsatisfying. We will create a new model of the underlying structure of the Eclipse UI, to be used as the basis for our future work. [Platform UI] ( 200094)
Investigate the next generation of JDT capabilities. We will continue to invest in our Java development tools, by investigating how best to address future hardware, Java language and IDE capabilities. Potential work areas include: better leverage of multi-core CPUs and/or distributed environments, better alignment with J2ME and J2EE, and increased granularity in Java search. [JDT UI, JDT Core] (200096)
None at this time.
(End of items for The Future.)
In the table below, the "3.4 minimum execution environment" column indicates the minimum Java class library requirements of each plug-in for the 3.4 release, where the value is one of:
Entry | Meaning |
M1.0 |
OSGi Minimum Execution Environment 1.0 - This is a subset of the J2ME Foundation class libraries defined by OSGi to be the base for framework implementations. See the OSGi specification for more details. |
M1.1 |
OSGi Minimum Execution Environment 1.1 - This is a subset of the J2ME Foundation class libraries defined by OSGi to be the base for framework implementations. See the OSGi specification for more details. |
F1.0 |
J2ME Foundation 1.0 - indicates that the plug-in can only be run on Foundation 1.0 or greater. Note that with the exception of some MicroEdition IO classes, Foundation 1.0 is a subset of J2SE 1.3. |
F1.1 |
J2ME Foundation 1.1 - indicates that the plug-in can only be run on Foundation 1.1 or greater. Note that with the exception of some MicroEdition IO classes, Foundation 1.1 is a subset of J2SE 1.4. |
1.2 |
J2SE 1.2 - indicates that the plug-in can only be run on JSE 1.2 or greater. |
1.3 |
J2SE 1.3 - indicates that the plug-in can only be run on JSE 1.3 or greater. |
1.4 |
J2SE 1.4 - indicates that the plug-in can only be run on JSE 1.4 or greater. |
1.4/1.5 |
Indicates that the plug-in can run on JSE 1.4 or greater, but provides enhanced functionality when run on J2SE 5.0. |
1.5 |
J2SE 5.0 - indicates that the plug-in can only be run on JSE 5.0 or greater. |
1.6 |
J2SE 6.0 - indicates that the plug-in can only be run on JSE 6.0 or greater. |
n/a | Unknown at the time of this revision. |
Plug-in | 3.4 |
javax.servlet | F1.0 |
javax.servlet.jsp | F1.0 |
org.apache.ant | 1.2 |
org.apache.commons.el | F1.0 |
org.apache.commons.logging | F1.0 |
org.apache.jasper | F1.0 |
org.apache.lucene | n/a |
org.eclipse.ant.core | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ant.ui | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.compare | n/a |
org.eclipse.core.boot | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.core.commands | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.core.contenttype | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.core.expressions | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.core.filebuffers | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.core.filesystem | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.core.jobs | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.core.net | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.core.resources | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.core.resources.compatibility | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.core.runtime | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.core.runtime.compatibility | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.core.runtime.compatibility.auth | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.core.runtime.compatibility.registry | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.core.variables | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.debug.core | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.debug.ui | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.equinox.app | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.common | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.http.jetty | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.http.servlet | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.http.registry | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.jsp.jasper | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.jsp.jasper.registry | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.launcher | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.preferences | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.equinox.registry | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.help | ![]() |
org.eclipse.help.appserver | ![]() |
org.eclipse.help.base | ![]() |
org.eclipse.help.ui | ![]() |
org.eclipse.help.webapp | ![]() |
org.eclipse.jdt | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jdt.apt.core | 1.5 |
org.eclipse.jdt.apt.ui | 1.5 |
org.eclipse.jdt.compiler.apt | 1.6 |
org.eclipse.jdt.compiler.tool | 1.6 |
org.eclipse.jdt.core | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jdt.core.manipulation | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jdt.debug | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jdt.debug.ui | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jdt.doc.isv | n/a |
org.eclipse.jdt.doc.user | n/a |
org.eclipse.jdt.junit | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jdt.junit.runtime | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jdt.junit4.runtime | 1.5 |
org.eclipse.jdt.launching | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jdt.source | n/a |
org.eclipse.jdt.ui | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jface | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.jface.text | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jsch.core | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.jsch.ui | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ltk.ui.refactoring | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.osgi (system.bundle) | M1.0 |
org.eclipse.osgi.services | M1.0 |
org.eclipse.osgi.util | M1.0 |
org.eclipse.pde | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.pde.build | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.pde.core | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.pde.doc.user | n/a |
org.eclipse.pde.junit.runtime | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.pde.runtime | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.pde.source | n/a |
org.eclipse.pde.ui | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.pde.ui.templates | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.platform | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.platform.doc.isv | n/a |
org.eclipse.platform.doc.user | n/a |
org.eclipse.platform.source | n/a |
org.eclipse.platform.source.* | n/a |
org.eclipse.rcp | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.rcp.source | n/a |
org.eclipse.rcp.source.* | n/a |
org.eclipse.sdk | n/a |
org.eclipse.search | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.swt | M1.0 |
org.eclipse.swt.* | M1.0 |
org.eclipse.team.core | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.team.cvs.core | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.team.cvs.ssh | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.team.cvs.ssh2 | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.team.cvs.ui | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.team.ui | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.text | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.tomcat | n/a |
org.eclipse.ui | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.ui.browser | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.cheatsheets | ![]() |
org.eclipse.ui.console | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.editors | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.externaltools | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.forms | ![]() |
org.eclipse.ui.ide | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.intro | ![]() |
![]() |
1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.navigator | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.navigator.resources | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.net | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.presentations.r21 | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.views | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.win32 | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.workbench | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.ui.workbench.compatibility | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.ui.workbench.texteditor | 1.4 |
org.eclipse.update.configurator | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.update.core | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.update.core.linux | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.update.core.win32 | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.update.scheduler | F1.0 |
org.eclipse.update.ui | F1.0 |
org.junit (old) | 1.4 |
org.junit (JUnit4) | 1.5 |
org.mortbay.jetty | F1.0 |