[eclipsepowered-discussion] Eclipsepowered Update for August 2005

[Ed B. <ed....@gm...>]

Wow, it's been a busy few months! Let's get to it...

1. RCP Tutorial Part 1 updated

A lot has changed since the RCP Tutorials were first written. New
wizards, new support for products configurations, branding, and so on.
So, I decided the tutorials needed a face lift. When I got into it, it
turned out to be more of a rewrite. But finally the first installment
is available at:

  http://www.eclipse.org/articles/Article-RCP-1/tutorial1.html

I hope you like it. I'm working on the second part now but it's going
to be a while because I have a lot on my plate.

2. Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide

O'Reilly will be publishing my new book, the Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide,
in the next month or so. This is a small format, 120 page book
intended to introduce people to Eclipse as a Java IDE. It's been fun
to work on (well, except for the crunch at the end :) ) and I want to
thank everyone for their support, especially my reviewers. For more
information on the book see:

  http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/eclipsepg/

I see they've put a sample chapter online: Tips and Tricks. That's one
of my favorites because it has something for both new and experienced
Eclipse users. Enjoy!

3. JDJ article

The Eclipse Foundation contacts me and says they need an article for
the JDJ magazine. Oh, and by the way, they need it in a week. What do
I do? Turn to you for help of course. Using a wiki site and lots of
help from eclipsepowered readers the article was done in record time.
Thanks! Here's the link to the finished article:

  http://java.sys-con.com/read/99729_1.htm

This was a very interesting way to write an article. While I wouldn't
want to do one on such a tight deadline again, I think the method of
using a wiki with community input has proved itself and I would use it
again.

4. New site

I've saved the best for last. As you probably know by now, the
eclipsepowered.org web site has been redirected to a new site called
EclipseZone (http://www.eclipsezone.com). I've joined forces with Rick
Ross and Matt Schmidt at Javalobby to make Eclipsepowered/EclipseZone
even better that before.

One change you'll notice right away is that anyone, this includes you,
can make posts on the site. Don't worry, I'll still be making the same
posts about RCP and Eclipse developments that I always have, but now
other Eclipse users and developers will be adding their expertise and
opinions to the mix as well.

For example, Eclipse Technical Director Bjorn Freeman-Benson posted a
note announcing his new feed for Eclipse Committter newsletters:
   http://www.eclipsezone.com/java/forums/t33006.html
Jim des Rivieres posted about the draft Eclipse Platform 3.2 plan:
   http://www.eclipsezone.com/java/forums/t22361.html
Gary Horen used it to announce the new alpha release of APT:
   http://www.eclipsezone.com/java/forums/t33010.html

If that weren't enough, the new site supports multiple forums, with
threading, user preferences, and email notifications. Besides the
Front Page current discussions, we have an Announcements forum (for
product releases, etc.) and a Tips & Tricks forum. For example R.J.
Lorimer posted a nice tip about removing clutter by compressing
package names in the Package Explorer view:
   http://www.eclipsezone.com/java/forums/t21366.html

This content you won't find anywhere else, and it's all possible
through the collaboration with Javalobby. All these new features and
the software and hardware that back them up do come at a cost,
however. To keep the content free it was necessary to go to an
ad-sponsored format.

Through the magic of URL rewriting, the permalinks from the original
site will continue to work. For example, these all go to the same
place:

http://www.eclipsepowered.org/archives/2005/07/26/embed-firefox-in-eclipse/
http://www.eclipsezone.com/archives/2005/07/26/embed-firefox-in-eclipse/
http://www.eclipsezone.com/java/forums/t20930.html

Going forward we'll be using the latter format.

Also the old RSS feed address still works. These go to the same place:

http://www.eclipsepowered.org/feed
http://www.eclipsezone.com/feed
http://www.eclipsezone.com/forumRSS/18110.xml

In that last link, the number is the forum number. You can subscribe
to any of the forums via RSS, either the full feed or just the popular
threads, like this:

http://www.eclipsezone.com/rss/rsspopularthreads.jspa?forumID=3D18110

There's a lot more planned for the site, including exclusive
interviews, articles, and ties to other community resources. I hope to
see you all there.

--Ed

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