Google Plugin for Eclipse 2.5

Since Google added SQL support to App Engine in the form of Google Cloud SQL, the Google Plugin for Eclipse (GPE) team has been working hard on improving the developer experience for developing App Engine apps that can use a Cloud SQL instance as the backing database.

They are pleased to announce the availability of Google Plugin for Eclipse 2.5. GPE 2.5 simplifies app development by eliminating the need for manual tasks like copying Cloud JDBC drivers, setting classpaths, typing in JDBC URLs or filling in JVM arguments for connecting to local/remote database instances.

GPE 2.5 provides support for:

  • Configuring Cloud SQL/MySQL instances
  • Auto-completion for JDBC URLs
  • Creating database connections in Eclipse database development perspective
  • OAuth 2.0 for authentication.

Configuring Cloud SQL/MySQL instances
App Engine provides a local development environment in which you can develop and test your application before deploying to App Engine. With GPE 2.5, you now have the ability to configure your local development server to use a local MySQL instance or a Cloud SQL instance for testing. When you choose to deploy your app, it will use the configured Cloud SQL instance for App Engine.

Auto-completion for JDBC URLs
GPE 2.5 supports auto-completion for JDBC URLs, and quick-fix suggestions for incorrect JDBC URLs.

Creating database connections in Eclipse database development perspective
The Eclipse database development perspective can be used to configure database connections, browse the schema and execute SQL statements on your database.

Using GPE 2.5, database connections are automatically configured in the Eclipse database development perspective for the Development SQL instance and the App Engine SQL instance.

You can also choose to manually create a new database connection for a Cloud SQL instance. In GPE 2.5, we have added a new connection profile for Cloud SQL.

GPE 2.5 now uses OAuth 2.0 (earlier versions were using OAuth 1.0)  to securely access Google services (including Cloud SQL) from GPE. OAuth 2.0 is the latest version of the OAuth protocol focussing on simplicity of client development.

Can’t wait to get started?
Download GPE here and write your first App Engine and Cloud SQL application using GPE by following the instructions here.

Google hope GPE 2.5 will make cloud application development using App Engine and Cloud SQL a breeze. We always love to hear your feedback and the GPE group is a great place to share your thoughts.

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The Eclipse Day at the Googleplex 2011

Here at Google, we use Eclipse every day to build our external and internal products, as well as building and releasing Eclipse tools. We are delighted to announce that we will be hosting Eclipse Day at Googleplex on November 30th. Hosting this event is one way to say “thank you” and contribute back to the community.
Eclipse Day is a 1-day conference that highlights Eclipse projects and Eclipse-based products created here at Google. It is also a great opportunity for both Eclipse contributors and users to network and share ideas.
This year we have sessions that cover Android Development Tools, Google Plug-in for Eclipse, WindowBuilder, EGit, m2eclipse, Eclipse 4, SWTBot, Orion, Hudson, a case study by NASA and Google’s use of Xtext.
In previous years some of the most popular sessions have been our Eclipse Ignite talks: 5-minute, 20-slide presentations by attendees that wish to show-off what they are doing with Eclipse.
All of us at Google would like to thank Ian Skerrett and everyone at the Eclipse Foundation for assembling this great event. We are happy to welcome the Eclipse community to our campus. We are always looking for ways to make this conference better! Please share your ideas and let us know your thoughts about this year’s program.
The conference is free, but you do need to pre-register. We strongly recommend you register early as we have run out of all of our slots every year.
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Google IO: A Developer’s Dream Combination

Google IO this year, Brad Abrams and Xavier Ducrohet gave a great presentation on how to use GPE 2.4 to build an App Engine connected Android application. Here’s a snippet from Brad’s blog, as well as a link to the full post.

Xavier Ducrohet and I had a great time today demoing “BigDaddy” which is the codename for the Google Plugin for Eclipse 2.4 Beta that we released today.

I started off with the following products installed:

Eclipse Helios, Android Developments Tools and, of course the Google Plugin for Eclipse 2.4 beta.

Our goal is to create a task tracking application for Larry Page. As he takes over as CEO, Larry has a lot of tasks that he needs to track and this app will help him (and the rest of us) track tasks…

The full blog post can be found here: Google IO Session Overview: Android + App Engine: A Developer’s Dream Combination.

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Top Ten Reasons to use Google Plugin for Eclipse

As I speak at JUGs and conferences around the world, I’m often surprised that some folks have never seen some of the best features of Google Plugin for Eclipse, such as using the Eclipse debugger with a GWT app. So in no particular order, here are 10 reasons you should use Google Plugin for Eclipse (GPE).

  1. GWT+GAE made easy. GPE is the easiest way to get started with GWT and Google App Engine (GAE). Just check the SDKs box when you install the plugin through the Eclipse update site. It’s easy to upgrade the SDKs this way (Help | Check for updates), and a status bar message in Eclipse will remind you when new versions are available.
  2. Wizards. It’s easy to create your first GWT+GAE project. Click File | New | Web application project and you’ll get a sample app that you can run locally to kick the tires and then deploy to Google App Engine. Beyond creating a new project, there are wizards to create new UiBinder templates, ClientBundles, GWT modules, and entry points. To use the wizards, click File | New and look for the items with the GWT toolbox logo (or click File | New | Other… and browse to the Google Web Toolkit folder).
  3. GWT Designer, now bundled with GPE, lets you quickly create a GUI. To see it in action, create a class that extends GWT’s Composite class, then right-click on the file and Open With | GWT Designer. When the editor opens, click on the Design tab at the bottom. After GWT Designer launches, click a tool on the palette (say, LayoutPanel), then click on the empty design window to drop the widget in place. Click the source tab to see the code that GWT Designer wrote for you. It’s a great way to learn the new cell widgets like CellTable and TextColumn, and GWT Designer has a built-in WYSIWYG CSS editor, too.
  4. Quick fixes and warnings help you write good GWT code quickly. For example, when you create an interface that extends GWT’s RemoteService class, GPE will prompt you to create the corresponding async interface required for GWT-RPC. Just click Ctrl+1 (Quick Fix) on the red squiggly and away you go.
  5. Dev mode integration lets you test your code quickly. Run As | Web Application starts GWT development mode and the App Engine dev server (if applicable) so you can test your code in the browser. When dev mode starts, look for the Development Mode tab in Eclipse and double-click the URL to launch your app in the default browser. With GWT dev mode running, you can make changes to your Java code, hit Refresh in the browser, and see your changes live.
  6. Debugging in dev mode rocks. Set a breakpoint in Eclipse, right-click on your project, and Debug As | Web Application. Switch to the browser and run your code. Eclipse will open the Debug perspective where you can step through your code line-by-line, inspect variables, etc.
  7. One-click deploy to Google App Engine. Just click the Google App Engine logo on the toolbar.
  8. Maven support. GPE works with Maven projects via m2eclipse (see setup instructions). Check out a Maven project like the Expenses GWT+GAE sample app into your workspace, then click File | Import | Existing maven project and point it to the pom.xml file. Maven will download all the jars and plugins required in the POM, and GPE will configure the project with the GWT and/or App Engine SDKs from the POM. You can then run Maven commands externally or Run As | Web Application in Eclipse.
  9. Testing. Run As | GWT JUnit Test lets you easily run test cases that extend GWTTestCase.
  10. SpeedTracer. You can launch SpeedTracer from within Eclipse. Click the green stopwatch icon on the GPE toolbar. GPE will compile your app, run it, and launch SpeedTracer in Chrome to profile your app.

Haven’t tried it yet? Install Google Plugin for Eclipse now.

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Simulating the upcoming lunar eclipse

Early tomorrow morning, December 21, there will be a total lunar eclipse. It will be completely visible to those in North America (assuming clear skies, of course) and people in Europe will be able to see the beginning of it.

For the solar eclipse this past summer, we showed you the great tool that was created by Michael at HeyWhatsThat.com.

He’s back again with a similar tool to determine the best time to view the lunar eclipse from your location. Check out the tool here to see when you should step outside to view the eclipse.

eclipse.jpg

If you’re not in a location that can view the eclipse, or if cloud cover obscures your view, NASA has a live feed that you can tune into to see the eclipse as it happens. UPDATE: Or watch it live in Google Earth using Slooh.

(via GoogleMapsMania)

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