Publisher:Addison-Wesley , 2008
Pages: 928
ISBN: 978-0321553461
Aimed at: Java developers using Eclipse
Rating: 4
Pros: Good as a reference work
Cons: Lacks a coherent overview of topic
Reviewed by: Harry Fairhead

Writing plug-ins for Eclipse isn't difficult but it is a big problem keeping track of all of the places that things are defined and setup. This book, now in its 3rd edition, is a comprehensive guide to the complexities of the plug-in system. It starts off with a good introduction to the area and then walks you though the creation of a simple plug-in using the wizards.

From this point on the style of the book becomes increasingly a reference work. It delves into each topic with a dissection of what options there are and how these should be set for particular results. The comments are helpful but by the middle of the book you can't help but feel that you are losing the bigger picture. More overview of concepts and structure would be helpful to the novice. A more gradually developed example would also help and there are lots of minor problems with the code when you try to actually use it as it was mostly developed for an earlier version of Eclipse. Even so it is currently the most up-to-date book specifically on the topic.

Overall this book plays the role of documentation and as Eclipse documentation is very patchy you could do worse than buy a copy of this book - it will save you time and effort even though it's not perfect.