Eclipse IDE project is started aiming to provide a universal tool set for development. Open Source IDE, mostly provided in Java, but the development language is independent. Eclipse market place hosts the list of plugins for the worlds most popular IDE. You can see the Top MPC Downloads and Top Favorites plugins are highlighted in the site. In this post I will introduce you some of the coolest eclipse plugins that I have used but were not part of the Top 10 list shown in the marketplace.
Below are my favorite plugins which are already listed in the top 10 list.
1. Spring Tool Suite
2. Maven Integration for Eclipse
3. Subclipse
4. UMLet
5. FindBugs
6. CheckStyle
7. AnyEdit
Givern below the ones that don't made it to the top 10 list but can make it one day!
General Purpose Tools
1. Rabbit
Rabbit is a time tracking plug-in for Eclipse. It runs silently in the background to record how you spend your time within Eclipse and reports the data back to you whenever you want it to - in a useful way.
2. InstaSearch
InstaSearch is an Eclipse plug-in for doing fast text search in the workspace. The search is performed instantly as-you-type and resulting files are displayed in an Eclipse view. It is a lightweight plug-in based on Apache Lucene search engine. Each file then can be previewed using few most matching and relevant lines. A double-click on the match leads to the matching line in the file.
3. EasyShell
This plugin allows to open a shell window or file manager from the popup menu in the navigation tree or editor view. The current directory of the opened shell is the directory which was selected with the popup menu. Additionally it is possible to run selected file in the shell and copy file or directory path. Multiple selections are also supported.
4. Eclipse Todo Editor
Manage your todos in an easy to use text editor with syntax highlighting and code completion. Effectively structure and query your todo lists using projects and custom tags.
5. MailSnag
With MailSnag, you can debug application generated emails within Eclipse. MailSnag creates a simple SMTP server to capture and inspect emails sent out by an application during development. You can view the email rendered as HTML, text or both. You can also view the raw data, embedded content and attachments.
6. More Clipboard
More Clipboard keeps track of the latest entries copied/cut into clipboard buffer and allows quick pasting from the popup list by pressing a hotkey. Inspired by Multi Clipboard plugin for Eclipse and Visual Assist for MS VS.
7. ObjectAid UML Explorer
The ObjectAid UML Explorer is optimized for the quick and easy creation of UML class and sequence diagrams from existing Java source code and libraries. It uses the UML notation to show a graphical representation of existing code that is as accurate and up-to-date as your text editor.
8. AgileReview
AgileReview provides you with an easy possibility to do code reviews in your favorite IDE. Code reviews are a powerful meaning for quality assurance, but switching between spreadsheets and code is very time consuming. With AgileReview you can comment and discuss code without leaving the IDE and more important: without leaving the code.
Tools for Java Developers
9. JAutodoc
JAutodoc is an Eclipse Plugin for automatically adding Javadoc and file headers to your source code. It optionally generates initial comments from element name by using Velocity templates for Javadoc and file headers.
10. JadClipse
If you use JadClipse the Class File Viewer will be replaced with the JadClipse Class File Viewer that shows the decompiled source of the class. This task is accomplished by decompiling the corresponding class file in the background using Jad. Normal Java syntax highlighting as well as the Outline View are supported.
Unit Testing
11. JUnit Helper
"JUnit Helper" helps JUnit users to cover all tests for public, protected and package local methods by saving much labor to start writing new test cases. Eclipse plugin also has an advantage of making it easier to go back and forth between developing class and test class by "Alt + 8" (test->dev) and "Alt +9"(dev->test).
12. MoreUnit
MoreUnit is an eclipse plugin that should assist you writing more unit test. The following features are implemented: - Decorate classes which have a testcase. - Mark methods in the editor which are under test. - Jump to a testcase in the editor via the menu or a shortcut (and back) - Generate a testmethod stub for the method under cursor-position in the editor via the menu or a shortcut. - Rename/move of classes / methods with corresponding testcases automatically starts refactoring for tests as well.
Looging Helpers
13. Logging code Cleanup for Eclipse
Logging code Cleanup plugin for Eclipse is an extension of the Eclipse Cleaun Ups which detects invocations of logging methods with compound arguments (requiring computation before method call) and prefixes them with corresponding if statements.
14. Log4E
Log4E is an Eclipse Plugin which helps you to set up your logger easily in Java Projects. It assists you in several tasks: logger declaration, logger Insertions at certain method entries, substitution of System out's, modification of already existing logger statements. Log4E has active support for Log4j, Commons Logging and JDK 1.4 Logging. By defining your own templates you might be able to adapt your own logger to the Plugin.
UML and Code Analysis Tools
15. ModelGoon UML4Java
ModelGoon brings new points of view of a Java project. Thanks to its tight connection and interaction with the Eclipse Java Development Tools JDT. ModelGoon provides also round-trip features on Class Diagrams actually as beta.
16. CodePro AnalytiX
CodePro AnalytiX is the premier Java software testing tool for Eclipse developers who want to be active participants in improving the quality and security of the code they produce. CodePro AnalytiX seamlessly integrates into the Eclipse environment, using automated source code analysis to pinpoint quality issues and security vulnerabilities before code reaches QA, or worse, production!
17. Sonar
Sonar for Eclipse provides comprehensive integration of Sonar into Eclipse. It shows quality issues while browsing the source code. Developers are made aware of quality issues compared to corporate standards without leaving their favorite IDE and thus enabling for continuous improvement with no effort. No propagation of standards changes is required anymore as definition is centralized.
18. MaintainJ
MaintainJ generates the runtime sequence diagrams for a use case. MaintainJ generated diagrams are dynamic, easy to explore and help Java developers to understand, debug and document Java applications.
19. EclEmma Java Code Coverage
EclEmma is a free Java code coverage tool for Eclipse, available under the Eclipse Public License. It brings code coverage analysis directly into the Eclipse workbench
20. eCobertura
eCobertura enables you to launch your applications or tests in Cobertura-covered mode directly from within Eclipse. View your source files colored according to the coverage results. Browse through the detailed coverage results in a tree view.
Note:- The numbering is arbitrary and does not imply the importance. The description about each plugins is copied from the Eclipse Market Place.