The best way to learn about Eclipse as a rich client platform is to build a rich client application. This part of the book guides you through just that. Starting with a machine completely devoid of any Eclipse function, we walk through setting up Eclipse for RCP development and then creating, running, debugging, and enhancing a reasonably full-featured instant messaging client application called Hyperbola. The screen shot on the next page shows an example of the Hyperbola chat client application you will build.
The material in Part II is presented in an informal, tutorial styleassuming that we are sitting with you and guiding you through Hyperbola's development. You are encouraged to follow along and do the steps described. If you would rather not follow the steps, or are having difficulties, the completed code for each chapter is also available on the CD included with this book. Even though the chapters are very development-oriented, the text for each chapter is complete and can be read without following the steps or looking at the supplied code.
