How to Download Eclipse for Windows | Install Eclipse IDE

I see everybody using Eclipse quite a lot. We are going to tap into learning how to download Eclipse for Windows and then how to install Eclipse IDE hereby. This, of course, brings us to the primal question that I guess I should have answered in the first place:

What is Eclipse?

I wish Eclipse was nothing but a solar or lunar wonder in the sky. Life would have been so much simpler then. But trust me, it isn’t difficult either.

It’s an IDE, an Integrated Development Environment, which is just a fancy name given to a software that gives you all the tools to work with. So just look at it as Microsoft Paint that lets an artist have a pen, pencil, brush, palette etc. to work with. Eclipse is no different. Here, we have all the coding related tools to work with.

So what MS-paint is for an artist, Eclipse is for a developer.

Got it? Good.

Let’s find out why learn about this crazy IDE before we learn how to download Eclipse for Windows.

We are learning Java aren’t we? So, I am going to upgrade myself from using a simple notepad to a much easy cozier environment of Eclipse to take in the whole look and feel of a hardcore coder.

There are a couple of things that I am looking forward to exploit in our Eclipse IDE.

Why Learn Eclipse?

That’s a tough one. Why do we do anything? Why can’t we just sleep?

Okay, unlike life’s countless elusive questions, this one has an answer. We are going to use Eclipse because it’s going to make learning programming languages very easy.

The following are pretty much the reason one should be learning Eclipse for:

• Intellisense: It predicts what you are typing, which even though might appear to be like that irritating friend of yours who finishes your sentences mid-way, but it is actually very helpful.
• Savings: It is going to save us immense time and effort so we can get back to playing Hitman whenever we feel like.
• Refactoring: It will make our code look badass. People are going to be mesmerized by the beauty of your code; they might put it in an exhibition or something.
• Debugging: When there’s an issue worth scratching your head for, Eclipse would provide us step by step easy navigation to debug our code without much hassle.
• Easy File Management: When everything is right where you need it, isn’t that, I don’t know, wonderful?
• Importing and Exporting Packages: When we are knee deep in coding we will learn more about packages and stuff. Importing and exporting them would be a click away with Eclipse.
• Identifying Issues: Eclipse sniffs issues! So if there is one that your dozy eyes can’t see, well Eclipse would highlight it for you, suggesting what needs to be done. Isn’t that a hoot?

Alright so now that we know why having Eclipse IDE for best friend is the coolest idea ever, we are going to jump in to learn how to download Eclipse for Windows and see for ourselves the wonders it packs.

How to Download Eclipse for Windows

Step 1: Go to this website:

https://eclipse.org/downloads

You would notice the site to appear something like this:

Step 2: Click on Download Packages. It will take you to Eclipse-Packages page where it will try to bewilder you with all the choices. Do not worry. Stand your ground.

Just find the Eclipse IDE for Java Developers section, and based on what bit Windows Operating system you are using, click on either 32 bit or 64 bit.

What bit OS are You Using?

Mine’s 64 bit so I am gonna go ahead and click on that. Not sure what’s yours? Simply right click on Computer or My PC go to Properties. The following screen will show up. It tells you whether it’s 32 bit or 64 bit OS:

Step 3: When you click on the Operating System you want Eclipse for, you will get the Download button. Click on it without wasting your second thought which I am sure must be about Pizza.

Step 4: The moment you do, you will see the page Thanking You for downloading the file. Say “No problem”. Go on say it! Be grateful! You will notice a dialog box opening that will have three options of whether you would like to open the zip file directly, or save it, or save as by Renaming it first. It is pretty self-explanatory isn’t it?

I will save the file without wasting any more time.

Step 5: Wait for the file to download now. Don’t just sit there watching the download bar. Go grab a sandwich or something. Live a little! You deserve a life too.

30 minutes later.

Phew! That was one helluva sandwich. If this were a food blog I would have told you all about it. The cheese, the corn, the egg…..Alright, let’s concentrate.

Step 6: Now that you have downloaded the zipped version, unzip it. Place it in a folder. Windows gives you a built in zipping/unzipping component, so you can simply right click the downloaded folder and click on Extract all.

Install Eclipse IDE and Run Neon 2

Oh wait! There is no such thing as installing Eclipse because there’s no setup. So, downloading it, is it.

You feel me?

Step 7: Once you have the folder with you, it’s gonna look like something like this:

Step 8: You see that Purple Earth icon right there? That’s your Eclipse right there. Double click on it:

When you do you will find Eclipse eclipsing on your system. Wait for it. You will be prompted for selecting a workspace. I recommend you check the “Use this as default” to escape future prompts. Check that and click on Ok.

Right after this you will get a Welcome page meaning you are done.

This insinuates installation of Eclipse has reached fruition. Trumpets!

So you have learnt how to download eclipse for windows. You have learnt how to install Eclipse IDE which is in fact the same thing. You a big boy now?

Now using Eclipse we can carry out our basic Java learning sessions. Also, it is going to prove useful to us in learning Selenium.

So, code away!