SWT/JFace quick start (1 min)

I was asked in my previous blog entry how to add SWT to a project classpath in order to run a simple snippet.
This for me the quickest way to run a SWT snippet from scratch :

Start Eclipse
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Create a new plugin project
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Go through the plugin wizard
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Do not use templates
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Add SWT dependency
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Create a new class

Note : If you want to run a SWT snippet you even don’t need these steps. Just copy the snippet content and paste it in the package view. This will create the java class in the right package, ready to be launched. Then jump to the “run snippet” step.

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Paste the snippet
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Organize imports
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Run the snippet
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And voila
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Once you got this working, you can start working with JFace or RCP, by adding the corresponding dependency.


Posted in Java, SWT - November 9th, 2007.



  • This would save 5-6 screenshots. Nice.
  • You can skip one step: You don't need to create the class. Just copy the Java source code into the clipboard, select the project and paste. Eclipse will create the class file for you (with the right name and path if it has a package and class name in the code you paste).
  • boris
    Thanks a lot Nicolas!
    This is really system way to solve the problem!!

    My “non system solution”, which I use in my school lessons is as follow:
    1)Unzip swt-3.3-win32-win32-x86.zip
    2)Copy swt.jar and swt-debug.jar in C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_12\lib\ext\
    3)Create a new Java project
    4)Create a new class
    5)Paste a snippet
    6)Run Java Application

    The advantage of this is “minimal set of action” needed to be done by pupils.
    Boris Starchev – Teacher Bulgaria
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