# Upgrading to Eclipse Photon

DevFeed: [Upgrading to Eclipse Photon](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/upgrading-to-eclipse-photon-22000.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://blog.joda.org/2018/07/upgrading-to-eclipse-photon.html>)

Author: Stephen Colebourne (noreply@blogger.com)

Published: 2018-07-09T09:51:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Stephen Colebourne](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/stephen-colebourne.md>)

Topics: [ide](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ide.md>), [Java](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/java.md>), [Java 9](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/java-9.md>), [modules](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/modules.md>), [Maven](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/maven.md>), [Code review](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code-review.md>), [Test coverage](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/coverage.md>), [GitHub](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/github.md>)

Tags: [code-coverage](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code-coverage.md>), [code-quality](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code-quality.md>), [eclipse](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/eclipse.md>), [github](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/github.md>), [how-to](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/how-to.md>), [ide](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ide.md>), [install](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/install.md>), [installations](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/installations.md>), [java](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/java.md>), [java-9](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/java-9.md>), [maven-plugin](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/maven-plugin.md>), [modules](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/modules.md>), [plugins](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/plugins.md>), [update](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/update.md>), [zip](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/zip.md>)

## AI overview

A personal guide to upgrading to Eclipse Photon, covering its improved separation of test and main classpaths, support for Java 9 modules and Java 10 local variable type inference, JUnit 5, and code coverage assistance. It also describes installation options and a locally built GEBIT fork of the m2e-code-quality plugin.

## Source excerpt

I use Eclipse as my Java IDE. And the new release, Photon is now out. Photon is a large release, with lots of new features. The most important is the separation of the test and main classpaths, which has always been a point of pain in the IDE. Now it just works as you would expect, and the Maven plugin M2E correctly sets it up: Note the darker colour of the src/test classpath elements. Support for Java 9 (modules) and Java 10 (local variable type inferenece) is also present, ready for Java 11 in September. You can also use JUnit 5. It even tries to help you reach 100% code coverage! All in all, I feel this is a release where upgrading will make a difference to everyday coding. I've upgraded my own Eclipse installations, and it all went pretty well. You can either start from a clean install (I prefer the basic IDE without plugins so I can choose which ones to add). Or you can add Photon as an update site, and let Eclipse update itself. One problem I had was the plugin that connects Maven (M2E) to Checkstyle (Eclipse-CS), known as m2e-code-quality. Fortunately, the team at GEBIT have been maintaining a fork of the original plugin. However, they don't release it in binary form. As such, I had to build the plugin locally (no big deal - its a simple build). To simplify the process however, I've created a repository on GitHub with my Eclipse setup files, and a binary zip of the GEBIT forked plugin. To use just the m2e-code-quality GEBIT fork, download the zip file and add it as an update site. Here are some instructions. Thank you Eclipse team for a great release! PS. I won't be answering "how to" questions about upgrading Eclipse or the eclipse-setup repository. There are plenty of other places to ask questions, such as Stack Overflow or the Eclipse Forums.