Eclipse is an integrated development environment with a base workspace and extensible features thanks to its support of plugins. However, it is often criticized for its being too heavy. In this respect, LiClipse is a set of plugins intended to enhance Eclipse and make it lighter by avoiding the need to install new plugins for every new language, except very advanced or specific ones. Some LiClipse plugins, such as Eclipse Color Theme, StartExplorer, AnyEdit and PyDev, can come in handy irrespective of the coding language.
LiClipse adds multiple features to the Eclipse’s base workspace. Just to mention but a few, it is good to know that it has a set of built-in editors for various programming languages, of which the HTML, XML and JavaScript editors are valuable assets. Depending on the language chosen, the editors support syntax highlighting, collapsible outlines, auto-indent, refactoring and basic code completion.
Unluckily, LiClipse’s interface inherits some of the problems found in Eclipse. In this regard, I regret to say that it is not easy to navigate and find the desired function, even if it is a frequently used one. It is also too bad that the sections of the general help document dedicated to LiClipse are totally blank.
All in all, LiClipse is likely to be welcome by those app developers who are already using Eclipse IDE. Still, other users may find it somewhat difficult to start with. However, it does offer some features which are hardly found in other IDEs, such as refactoring. Finally, if you like the idea of trying this solution, you will be glad to hear that it will not cost you a dime.
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