My Java Enterprise Applications course utilizes Eclipse as the development IDE, together with the Web Tools Platform, which includes Glassfish as the Java application server. Persistent storage for applications (ie, database) is the Apache Derby system, which integrates well with the SQL Scrapbook plugin that is part of the Web Tools Platform.
The version of Eclipse that I used last year was an older version from 2008, so this summer I was looking at upgrading to something more recent (for example, the Eclipse Juno release). However, finding all of the appropriate pieces on the Web in the usual places, such as the (old) Sun page for downloading Glassfish is at best confusing and, at worst, impossible for mere mortals to decipher. I found plenty of links to older software, but little from the past three years and what was there was quite confusing.
Fortunately, kudos to Oracle staffer Peter Benedikovic who this past March blogged about how Oracle has re-packaged and re-bundled the Web Development Tools platform for Eclipse into something now called the Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse (OEPE).
OEPE 12.1.x contains the Eclipse Juno release, along with the various (former) WTP plugins – including the Glassfish application server – and also contains a release of Tomcat that can be configured and instantiated entirely from within the Eclipse platform when testing applications. One single .zip file, an uncompress, a menu shortcut to the main Eclipse .exe file, and you’re good to go.
For students, College lab machines will be running OEPE 12.1.1.2.1 for Eclipse Juno.
My thanks to Peter for alerting the Java community to the rebundling, and for his article that saved me from a substantial upgrade effort.
