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Create an Eclipse game plug-in, Part 1: Getting started

How to build fun plug-ins for Eclipse using the SWT, OpenGL, and the LWJGL

Trebor Fenstermaker, Software Consultant, Sunnyside Avenue Software, LLC
Although he's programmed in Java since 1999, Trebor Fenstermaker was, for much of that time, highly suspicious of Java IDEs and was a die-hard command-line user, even doing all his code editing in vi -- until a colleague showed him that he really could be more efficient with Eclipse. He now evangelizes his fellow UNIX command-line refugees on its wonders and enjoys exploring its more powerful features -- including its endless possibilities for expansion through custom plug-ins.

Summary:  Although most users think of Eclipse as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for building Java™ applications, it is really something much more basic. Eclipse is a framework for building plug-ins, allowing any developer to extend its functionality to solve nearly any problem, just by leveraging a set of APIs and readily available libraries. In this four-part "Create an Eclipse game plug-in" tutorial series, you will solve a pressing problem most programmers encounter daily: how to break away to play a quick video game without switching applications and making it obvious. You will also learn the Eclipse plug-in architecture and learn how to define your own plug-in, develop an interface using SWT, and create code that interacts with other Eclipse resources.

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Date:  07 Mar 2006
Level:  Intermediate
PDF:  A4 and Letter (1257 KB | 35 pages)Get Adobe® Reader®

Activity:  13232 views
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Before you start

This tutorial, Part 1 of a four-part "Create an Eclipse game plug-in" series, will concentrate on building the framework for a simple shootout video game that can be launched and played inside Eclipse by creating a plug-in, installing it, integrating it with the Task List, and adding some basic visual components with the SWT and OpenGL. You'll develop a simple shoot-'em-up game that will read the computer bugs you've entered on the Tasks view, and blast them to bits. The game will run inside Eclipse as a plug-in that will demonstrate how to write to the Eclipse API, while using the Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT), the Open Graphics Library (OpenGL), and the Lightweight Java Games Library (LWJGL).

About this series

In this series, you will be introduced to the basic techniques, tools, and libraries used to create a full-featured Eclipse plug-in that uses the Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) and OpenGL libraries for providing graphics. Part 1 looks at building the framework for a simple video game that can be launched and played inside Eclipse by creating a plug-in. Part 2 takes the basic framework created in Part 1 and starts adding the actual visual elements using OpenGL. Part 3 adds the actual game elements, enabling the user to interact with the graphics created in Part 2. Part 4 takes everything created in the previous three parts and makes sure it all works.

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About this tutorial

Here in Part 1, you will be introduced to the Eclipse plug-in architecture and learn how to define your own plug-in using the Eclipse tool itself. You will also begin to leverage the SWT to develop a simple user interface for your plug-in. You'll also create code to demonstrate how to interact with other Eclipse resources -- in this case, the Task List. By the end, you will have a good framework for which to build a simple breakout video game that will work directly in Eclipse; you will add that functionality in the remaining tutorials.

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Prerequisites

You will need Eclipse V3.2, and a Java compiler and interpreter, V1.4 or higher.

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TutorialTitle=Create an Eclipse game plug-in, Part 1: Getting started
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