Configuring the Eclipse IDE

Why change the Eclipse configuration?

By the default Eclipse IDE is configured in a way to make the majority of developers happy. However that may not fit your needs or your taste. By changing some the IDE settings you may be able to use Eclipse more efficiently and produce better code.

Please note : All settings on this page are recommendations and show my personal preferences. If something does not work for you or you disagree with it please feel free to ignore the corresponding chapters. After all your settings are as right and wrong as mine are.

Settings for Text Editors

The following settings apply to all text editors include Java and XML editors. To change these settings open the IDE preferences and go to General > Editors > Text Editors:

• Insert spaces for tabs will replace tabs with spaces and avoid mix of tabs and spaces which can result in misalignment in some systems. The number of spaces for each tab is specified in Displayed tab width.
• Show line numbers will display the line number on the left side of the text editor. This helps when searching for bugs based on exception stacktraces or when talking with colleagues about the code.
• Show whitespace characters similar to Word this will show spaces, tabs and returns. This is sometimes useful when lines are much indented or non-ASCII characters. The link configure visibility lets you choose which characters to show and also the transparency level.

Link the editors with the Package Explorer view

Sometimes it is hard to find out where the file you have opened in an editor is physically located (e.g. which project, which package, which folder). Linking editors and Package Explorer make sure that the file from the current active editor is always selected in the Package Explorer. To enable or disable this feature click the link button in the Package Explorer: