Ctrl+1 (Quick Fix) is your friend. Use it anywhere you see the red squiggles, and even when you don't. My favorite use for it is creating new methods. Simply invoke the method before you've defined it, then Ctrl+1 to automatically create the method signature.

Ctrl+Space (Auto-completion) is your next best friend. Need to loop over an array? Type "for" and hit Ctrl+Space.

Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow (Copy Line Down). Very handy to duplicate a line. Up arrow works, too. If you find yourself doing this a lot, you might need to refactor....

Alt+Down Arrow (Move Line Down). Much faster than copy and paste.

Alt+Shift+J (Javadoc). Generates a Javadoc comment for your method or class. Use Preferences to customize your template.

Ctrl+/ (Comment Line). Also works with multiple lines.

Ctrl+Shift+F (Format Code). Select lines of code to format, then use this key to apply formatting rules defined in Preferences.

 

Ctrl+PageUp/Down cycles through editor tabs, just like Excel worksheets.

Ctrl+E brings up a list of all open files. Type the first few letters and hit Enter.

Ctrl+F7 switches between panes (views). Very useful for moving between Package Explorer and Editor.

Ctrl+F8 switches between perspectives like Java, Debug, etc.

Ctrl+Q takes you to the last edit location.

 

 

Alt+[left arrow] takes you back.

Ctrl+Shift+T brings up the Open Type dialog. Much quicker than clicking down in the package explorer.

Ctrl+O brings up the outline view for any class or interface. Press it again to see all inherited members.

Ctrl+T shows the type hierarchy. For an interface, it will show you all classes that implement the interface. This is extremely handy when navigation applications that separate interfaces from implementations.

Window | Preferences | General | Editors | Close editors automatically

There is no Maven 1 build integration for Eclipse, but you can launch a Maven 1 build by configuring it as an external tool. Select Run | External Tools | External Tools... and create a new Program configuration as follows:

 

Location: find maven.bat on your system.

Working Directory: use the Variables button to enter ${project_loc}

Arguments: enter your maven target, like war:install

 

On the common tab, check the box to run in background and display in the External Tools menu.

 

Now you can use the Run External Tools icon to launch your maven build within Eclipse.

Configure Windows Explorer as an external tool. Select Run | External Tools | External Tools... and create a new Program configuration as follows:

 

Location: C:\WINNT\explorer.exe (or alternate on your system)

Working Directory: leave blank

Arguments: use the Variables button to enter ${project_loc}

 

On the common tab, check the box to Display in Favorites Menu and click Apply and Close.

 

Now select a project in the Package Explorer and select Windows Explorer from the External Tools icon pull-down menu. Explorer should launch in your project directory.

Configure a DOS launcher just like Maven 1 and Windows Explorer above.

 

Location: C:\WINNT\system32\cmd.exe

Working Directory: use the Variables button to enter ${project_loc}

Arguments: none required

 

Note that DOS will launch in the Eclipse console, which is kind of weird, but sometimes handy.

There are several ways you can reduce the amount of "noise" in the Package Explorer View. From the pull-down menu, in the upper right corner, select Filter... to remove jar references, resources, and other things you may not need from your view. Just don't forget you have it on when you're looking for something that has disappeared.

Does your Package Explorer view have too many projects? From the pull-down menu in the Package Explorer View, click "Select Working Set..." to create a new working set. Select only the projects you wish to be included. You can now switch between working sets quickly from the pull-down menu.

Reverse engineer class diagrams, create sequence diagrams, and more. Outstanding.

Don't have the source? No problem! Use JAD (Java Decompiler right from Eclipse)

Free and professional versions for working with JSF and Hibernate. This is the only Eclipse plug-in that supports facelets. The faces-config editor is super nice.