Ever thought of running a RCP in Browser ? RAP is here !

I have been hearing a lot in terms of web based version of Eclipse APIs and browser based RCP off late. On googling a bit, I found out that RAP has indeed made it possible to launch the RCP in a web browser.A RAP screencast showing how to convert the RCP Mail Template into a RAP application can be seen at this link - View screencast in new window.

Wait, what is RAP anyway?

RAP stands for Rich Ajax Platform. It is an Eclipse Project that enables Java developers to build browser-based AJAX applications using the full Java libraries, Eclipse APIs and a plug-in architecture. It does so by providing a web-enabled implementation of SWT, JFace and the Workbench.

Although, this experiment sort of works but I am not sure how useful will it be to try and run a HEAVY swt based app in a plain browser. Hope to see much more development happening in this context as one benefit that this is surely going to bring is the freedom from installing a RCP on each client machine.

WAY TO GO RAP.

Quick Access (Ctrl+3) feature added

Quick Access (Ctrl+3) command has been introduced in Eclipse 3.4.  

It allows you to access UI-elements - like Views, Perspectives, Commands, etc. - by just typing their name.

Some usage examples:

• Open the Navigator View? Ctrl+3, Navi, return
• Debug Last Launched? Ctrl+3, DLL, return
• Open the Debug Perspective? Ctrl+3, Perspectives D (Perspectives Debug), return