What we all want is a level of
integration that magically blends separately developed tools
into a well designed suite. And it should be simple enough that existing
tools can be moved to the platform without using a shoehorn or a
crowbar.
The
platform should be open, so that users can select tools from the best source and
know that their supplier has a voice in the development of the underlying platform.
It
should be simple to understand, yet robust enough to support integration
without a lot of extra glue.
It
should provide tools that help automate mundane tasks. It should be
stable enough so that industrial strength tools can build on top of it.
And it should be useful enough that the platform developers can
use it to build itself.
These
are all goals of Eclipse. […]
[Eclipse
Plug-in Developer Guide]