Modular Mind

RCP Quickstart is a 3-day course designed to get you quickly up to speed with Eclipse RCP. The RCP Quickstart course has been thoughtfully designed based on 3 years of student feedback.

Do I need Eclipse RCP training?

Whether you’ve just started with RCP or you’ve been working with it for a while, a well-designed training course can save you a lot of time, effort, and money.

If you’d like to discuss your Eclipse RCP training needs in more detail, please feel free to contact me.

Why choose RCP Quickstart over other RCP courses?

So you think you might benefit from an Eclipse RCP training course, but are unsure which one to pick? Here is why RCP Quickstart should be your first choice.

• The best reason, I think, is me. When you take the RCP Quickstart course, you know I’ll be your trainer. I designed this course from scratch and have modified it continually over the past 3 years based on student feedback.
• I’ve taught hundreds of students, and many of them would by happy to talk to you about their experiences. Just ask for a list of references! I’ve also begun accepting feedback online, and RCP Quickstart students are free to write whatever they like.
• I take a personal interest in the success of my students and go out of my way to make sure you’re successful. Free course customizations and unlimited email followup questions are just two examples of this.

If you’re still unsure about which Eclipse RCP trainer to hire, I’ve written a guide to choosing a technical trainer that may help you in your search.

What are my options?

I offer training in a variety of ways to guarantee you can get the training you need.

• Private onsite training for groups of 6 or more
• Private online training for groups of 3 or more
• Public online training held once a month

All private courses can be customized to need your specific needs at no extra charge.

RCP Quickstart Outline

This 3-day course is divided into 6 sessions, one to be held in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each session lasts about 3 hours and includes both lecture and labs.

Morning Day 1 – Plug-ins and the PDE

• Introduction to the Rich Client Platform
• Plug-in model
• Anatomy of a single plug-in
• Creating a plug-in with the PDE
• Plug-in manifests
• Plug-in dependencies
• Plug-in encapsulation
• Extensions and extension points
• Features
• Fragments
• Running your code

Afternoon Day 1 – SWT and JFace

• SWT Overview
• Widgets and controls
• Composites and groups
• Layout managers
• Events and listeners
• JFace viewer framework
• Dialogs
• Data binding

Morning Day 2 – RCP Basics

• Workbench structure and services
• Selection service
• Workbench life-cycle
• Perspectives and perspective layouts
• Views and mementos
• Target platforms
• Products and branding
• Creating an application with the PDE

Afternoon Day 2 – Menus and wizards

• Workbench menus
• Actions and ActionBars
• Commands, handlers and menus
• Wizard framework
• Integrating wizards into the workbench

Morning Day 3 – Editors and Forms API

• Editor construction
• Editor inputs
• Editor life-cycle management
• Forms API
• Forms editor framework
• File system integration

Afternoon Day 3 – Preferences, Concurrency and more

• Preferences API
• Creating preference pages
• Creating extension points
• Jobs API
• Incorporating help content

Logistics

The following logistics information applies to public online courses. Private courses, whether online or onsite, can be held in whatever manner is convenient to you.

Public online courses will be held using the GoToMeeting service. The PDF manual and lab materials will be delivered as an encrypted archive available a few days before the course begins.

The timing of the course is meant to be convenient for students throughout North America, though you’re welcome to take the course from anywhere in the world. The specific course times for the North American time zones are as follows:

• Eastern: 11am – 6pm
• Central: 10am – 5pm
• Mountain: 9am – 4pm
• Pacific: 8am – 3pm

Prerequisites

This course assumes that students will have a moderate to advanced understanding of Java. Some familiarity with the Eclipse IDE will be helpful but is not required.

Cancellations/Refund Policy

Your registration for a public online course can be cancelled up to one week before the course start date. After that point, substitutions are allowed but not cancellations. If you wish to substitute, please inform me before the course begins.