Google joins Eclipse Foundation

Ending months of speculation, Google has officially joined the Eclipse Foundation as an add-in provider, according to officials at both organizations. In an interview with ZDNet, Eclipse Director Mike Milinkovich said:

We are, of course, thrilled that Google decided to join the Eclipse Foundation. It was a nice gesture of support for the Eclipse community and it is appreciated. But what I am really excited about is the way that Google is using Eclipse as the development tools platform for the Google Web Toolkit. It is yet another demonstration of how Eclipse can be used as the tools platform for so many different languages and environments.

The move was announced at this week's members teleconference. Google's Scott Blum gave a presentation on the Google Web Toolkit (GWT), which is built on Eclipse RCP and JDT technology. Scott also showed off the GWT Designer, a commercial WYSIWYG editor for GWT applications created by Instantiations, the makers of WindowBuilder Pro. Milinkovich:

The intersection between GWT and Instantiations WindowBuilder is also very interesting. Ajax developers are looking for ways to become more productive, and that seems like a winning combination.

[According to Instantiation's Brian MacDonald, a package that includes a year's subscription to GWT Designer plus the 70-page GWT e-book (written by yours truly) is available through the end of the year at a discounted price.]

Google's Open Source Program Office (including Greg Stein, Chris DiBona, and Zaheda Bhorat) pulled the deal together between Google and the Eclipse Foundation in October. Although there was no official word on whether or not Google's endorsement of Eclipse will mean the company would devote any additional resources towards the popular open source community, Milinkovich was hopeful:

It will be interesting to see if Google gets involved in some of the Eclipse projects related to Ajax such as ATF and RAP.

For more information see:

• Slides from Eclipse member's meeting (pdf)
• Google Web Toolkit home page
• Eclipse Foundation members
• Instantiations GWT Designer
• GWT Powered community resources