Hello Hyperbola (Chapter 4) The tutorial starts off with an empty workspace and walks through the basic elements of creating RCP applications and plug-ins, the structure and control flow of a simple Hyperbola shell, and the running and debugging of applications. By the end of this initial prototype, Hyperbola is just a simple shell, but it runs and you know how to run it! The code for this chapter is entirely generated by templates in Eclipse.
UI sketch (Chapters 57) This prototype focuses on filling out the UI of Hyperbola. The realities and details of messaging are ignored as we introduce UI concepts such as views, editors, actions, and perspectives as well as some common user features like system tray integration. The prototype finishes with a realistic-looking Hyperbola chat client prototype without the chatting function.
Branded and packaged (Chapters 89) We take a break from coding and the chat domain to address the somewhat generic issues of branding and packaging. Branding Hyperbola by adding a splash screen, window images, and about information completes its look and feel. Packaging it allows you to distribute it to friends and colleagues and get their feedback. The branded and packaged Hyperbola is fully standalone.
Messaging (Chapters 1012) The main goal of this prototype is to put the "chat" in "chat client." Here, we add the Smack messaging library to get real messaging capabilities. This prototype also refines Hyperbola to have key bindings, preferences, and a login dialog.
Well-rounded (Chapters 1314) The last prototype rounds out Hyperbola by adding Help and Update support. These are important capabilities for real-world applications. Their addition here sets the stage for the integration of further function. By the end of this prototype, Hyperbola is a complete XMPP-based chat client that has a number of bells and whistles but has still only scratched the surface of what is possible with the Eclipse RCP.
