FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Some Fundamentals

Q: What will the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project deliver?
The project will deliver a generic, extensible, standard-based tooling platform for J2EE and Web-centric application development. The provision of any runtime infrastructure is explicitly excluded from the project, and deployed code should not depend on Eclipse technologies.

Q: What is the goal of the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project?
A: The project aims to deliver free, open and common tooling infrastructure for providers of Web and J2EE application development products.

Q: How does the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project relate to other Eclipse projects?
A: The project will be built on the Eclipse Platform Project and on other core Eclipse technologies, with collaboration from corresponding Eclipse development teams. As an Eclipse family project, this project will preserve and extend the overall Eclipse value proposition: ease of use, functions and coolness.

Q: How will vendor-neutrality be encouraged?
A: The project targets only tools for infrastructure that have been standardized, and will accommodate a wide range of the corresponding runtimes. Project components will be generic and extensible.

Getting Involved

Q: Who can participate to the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project?
A: The project is an open source project and anyone can become a contributor. The Eclipse Web Tools Platform Project Charter describes the organization of the project, roles and responsibilities of the participants, and the top-level development process for the project. If you are interested in becoming a contributor, start with Contributing to The WTP Project.

Q: Why are some organizations listed as taking part the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project?
A: In order to maximize the chances of success of the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project, some organizations have committed specific resources for the first year of the project, and those organizations will benefit from the direct support of the PMC Resource Planning Council for resource management. The list and the instructions for an organization to join can be found on the Project Development Plan page.

Q: What is the role of ObjectWeb in the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project?
A: ObjectWeb is a not-for-profit consortium that aims at the development of an industrial quality component-based open source middleware. While ObjectWeb projects deliver primarily run-time infrastructure, the critical need for tooling motivates the involvement of key individuals of the consortium in the management of the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project.

Project Planning & Development Process

Q: What kind of development process will be used?
A: The development process will adhere to the 'Agile Software Development' philosophy. (See Agile Manifesto.) The process will be iterative, incremental and flexible, with rapid delivery milestones and rapid development cycles.

Q: When will this project start?
A: Upon formal Eclipse approval of the project. A four-day introduction/presentation of contributions/vision/architecture brainstorming session will start the project. INRIA has offered to host the event in Grenoble, France from June 16th to June 19th.

Licensing Questions

Q: What is the license used by the Eclipse Web Tools Platform project?
A: Like other Eclipse projects, the project will begin with CPL and switch to EPL in the near future. More information on Eclipse project licensing may be found at /legal.

Q: What are the conditions for code contribution?
A: Any individual or organization that owns code may offer it as a contribution. To prevent from intellectual property infringement, only code licensed under CPL will be accepted by the Eclipse Web Tools Platform PMC for review.