SWT/Beginners

Adding API to SWT

SWT API has to be backwards compatible, meaning changing existing API is basically not an option (except in a few cases). However it's very common to add new API -- to do so, follow the steps below.

1. Add the API. If you are doing this in a common class, you only have to add it once. Otherwise, be sure to add the constant/method to all platforms' classes.
2. If this is the first time you are adding API in this release cycle, bump the minor "version" fields in the pom.xml and MANIFEST.mf files. For example, 3.107.100 -> 3.108.0
3. Write the Javadocs, and be sure to include @since tags, indicating the API is available since the API version you just bumped in step 2.

Writing new and noteworthy (N&N) posts

If you've added a new feature or fixed a significant bug, it's often useful to write an N&N post. N&N posts are short HTML entries in a milestone's/release's N&N page. The N&N page showcases improvements and features for all aspects of the Eclipse IDE during that milestone/release. To write an N&N post:

1. Clone the eclipse/news repo
2. Look for the folder and file corresponding to the milestone/release and component you want to write about (for example: 4.9/platform.html)
3. Follow the instructions in the HTML page and/or look at other posts as example
4. Add a new section with a meaningful title and a short description about the feature/bug that was fixed. Images can be added to further demonstrate the fix (follow the instructions in the HTML file re: images)
5. Upload the change to the gerrit repo for eclipse/news and add a committer from your component to review it