RE: http://theschemeway.blogspot.com/

["Dominique Boucher" <dominique dot boucher at nuecho dot com>]

Per,

> Just for editing Java, how does Eclipse compare to Emacs or XEmacs?

It is REALLY good. I use code completion a lot, so Eclipse saves a lot of
typing. 
Also, you don't really need to take care of the formatring while you type.
Once in 
a while, type Control-f and the whole file is reformatted based on your
preferences 
(and there are lots of them!). 

The really nice thing is that you have access to all the classes in your
project
(as well as the ones in the .jar files you rely on) simply by typing
Control-t in the
Java perspective. You can then easily navigate your code. 

Another nice thing is the automatic highlighting of syntax/typing errors.
You see
your errors as you type. The environment can also compile your classes
automatically,
each time you save your file (I think).

And all the refactoring tools simply rock!

I am a real fan of [X]Emacs. But honestly, overall, Eclipse is a much better
tool for editing
Java code. There are a few things missing, of course. You cannot put your
cursor 
right affter a closing brace, and then hit Alt-Control-b (or something
equivalent) to 
move the cursor just before the matching opening brace, like in Emacs.
That's a 
shame. I do this all the time in Emacs.

The other important thing missing (of course) is the extension language. It
is not
easy to add functionality to existing editors, like in [X]Emacs. Even when
you
write a plugin, apparently simple things can be hard to do right. The
underlying
model is great, but it makes adding simple things a difficult task when you
don't 
know what you're doing (and I did not find the documentation of great help).
For
example, it took me about 3 hours to figure out how to add default key
bindings
to my Scheme editor...! 

> I've tried tweaking the options, and it's getting there, but 
> for example the "re-indent line on tab" option (which I use 
> all the time in Emacs) doesn't seem to work.

Try Control-i instead. You can also reformat the whole file with Control-f.

Dominique