Chapter 1. An overview of JBoss Tools
As you probably know, JBoss Tools are a set of Eclipse plug-ins that offer support for developing, deploying, and testing applications based on JBoss.org (http://www.jboss.org/) projects.
If this definition doesn't say much, then let's just say that JBoss Tools is an "all-in-one" product that provides complete support for developing Java SE and Java EE applications. Also, it's important to note that JBoss Tools can sustain the development of each tier of an enterprise/desktop application by providing dedicated components like editors, wizards, syntax-highlighting, import/export skills, code completion, refactoring, etc.
If you are familiar with the JBoss Tools evolution, then it is impossible to skip the fact that the new JBoss Tools 3 Candidate Release 2 (JBoss Tools 3.0.0 CR2) version is the "king" of all versions. But, if JBoss Tools is a new challenge for you, then try to be careful; JBoss Tools creates dependency and it seems that the current software market doesn't offer an antidote yet. This compelling superiority is because JBoss Tools provides tools for both standard J2SE/J2EE technologies like EJB3 and JPA as well as open source technologies that have become widely accepted in enterprise Java development, for example, Hibernate, JBPM, Seam, etc. It brings everything that you'll ever need—together!
Looking inside the 3.0.0 CR2 bundle, we see the following tools (this is just a brief overview meant to reveal the JBoss Tools covered technologies):
- JBoss AS Tools: To manage application servers (especially for JBoss AS)
- JBoss JSF Tools: Tools dedicated to supporting JSF/JSF-related technologies
- JBoss Struts Tools: Tools dedicated to the Struts framework
- JBoss Seam Tools: Tools dedicated to Seam projects
- JBoss Hibernate Tools: Tools dedicated to the Hibernate framework
- JBoss jBPM Tools: Tools to design and deploy jBPM business processes
- JBossWS Tools: WTP Tooling for JBoss Web Services
- Portlet Tools: Tooling for Portlets
- JBoss ESB Tools: Tools to develop ESB components
- JBoss XDoclet Tools: Tools to integrate XDoclet in Eclipse
- JBoss Freemarker IDE: Syntax-highlighting editor for Freemarker files
- JBoss RichFaces VPE: Visual Page editor for Richfaces, JSF, HTML, and CSS
- BIRT Tools: Reporting Tooling for JBoss J2EE Servers (not presented in this book)
- JBoss Smooks: Tooling Tools for Smooks (not presented in this book)
Next, in this chapter, you will see a brief listing of the features of JBoss Tools and after that we will proceed to install and configure the 3.0.0 CR2 release.
Further, in the following chapters, we will discuss the main tools and see that JBoss Tools can be a complete solution for Java developers.