First, install Java if you haven't already. Then download the Eclipse SDK to a temporary directory. Use your archive program to unpack Eclipse into a permanent directory. There are no setup programs and no registry values to deal with.
After you have unpacked the SDK, you should have a subdirectory called eclipse, which in turn has directories in it such as plugins and features. If you don't see these, check the settings on your archive program. A common mistake is to unpack Eclipse in such a way that its directory structure is not preserved. Eclipse won't run unless you unpack it with the exact directory paths that exist in the archive.
You are now ready to launch Eclipse. Inside the eclipse directory, you'll find a launcher program for the IDE called, strangely enough, eclipse (or eclipse.exe). Invoke that program to bring up the IDE.
The first time you start Eclipse, you will be prompted for the location of your workspace. The workspace is the location where your source code and other files and settings will be stored on your workstation. Specify a permanent locationâsomewhere not in your install directoryâpreferably a location that will be backed up regularly.
Putting the workspace in a different place from where you installed Eclipse makes upgrades easier. See the "Getting Upgrades" section, later in Part I, for more information.
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