In general, any software development is easier when using an integrated development environment (IDE). When one talks about enterprise application development, the developer usually thinks of using an IDE to ease that development. However, the requirement varies from application to application, and one can't always find a suitable IDE that fits in well with the environment. One needs an IDE development framework to solve the problem. Fortunately, Eclipse (an open source platform) provides such a framework

This white paper focuses on the business and technical perspectives of using the Eclipse platform for developing enterprise applications. This document explains how Eclipse can help solve some of the problems that developers face in developing large and complex projects. However, this document is not a step-by-step or "how-to guide" for Eclipse. Readers can find more information in the references section.