Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Setting up JavaFX for the Eclipse IDE
As of JavaFX version 1.2, Sun Microsystems the name (will be Oracle by the time you read
this) officially released a fully functional plugin to support development in the Eclipse IDE.
While the Eclipse plugin came after NetBean's, it still packs an invaluable set of functionalities
for developers who feel more comfortable working in Eclipse, including:
F
Project creation wizard and templates
F
Syntax highlighting
F
Code completion
F
Error detection
F
Code block formatting and folding
F
In-editor API documentation
F
Debugging
F
Continuous background build
F
And more…
This recipe shows how to set up the Eclipse IDE for JavaFX development. You will learn how to
configure Eclipse and the JavaFX 1.2 plugin.
Getting ready
Before you can start building JavaFX applications in the Eclipse IDE, you must ensure that your
development environment meets the minimum requirements for JavaFX 1.2, which requires
Eclipse 3.4 (Ganamede) for Java EE developers (or higher). To get the Eclipse plugin to work
properly, ensure that you have downloaded and configured the Java JDK and the JavaFX SDK
(see the recipe
Installing the JavaFX SDK
for details).
How to do it...
As with anything else in Eclipse, JavaFX support comes in the form of a plugin. You have to
download and configure the plugin to work with your previously installed local JavaFX SDK
prior to building your applications. To get started, do the following:
1. Select Software-Updates from the Help menu to open the Plugins management
window.
2. Click on the Available-Software tab.
3. Add the site
http://javafx.com/downloads/eclipse-plugin/
as the
plugin site.
