Add Eclipse metadata

[jmini]

In my opinion Eclipse Metadata Files should be pushed to this repository.

Related Forum discussion:
https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php/t/1085533/

[boardend]

IMHO there is no point in checking in files that can be automatically generated! Also if you're using an other IDE than eclipse (which seems pretty common in the Spring(-Boot) world / see e.g. spring-boot-samples), those files are just a mess...

If you want to import a multi-module maven project in eclipse, the common way is to run mvn eclipse:eclipse first and then import the project into the workspace.

PS: This topic was discussed with @matthiaszimmermann before

[jmini]

This is really a matter of taste and opinion and need to be discussed.

Without running mvn eclipse:eclipse an import of this repository is broken in Eclipse. Not really user friendly.

Even with the command, the metadata produced by maven are not the one I expect:

• No usage of M2E, meaning that a modification of the pom requires to run mvn eclipse:eclipse again
• No filtering resources for the subfolder that are also imported projects.
• No metadata useful eclipse plugins. The first that comes to mind is JDT (code formatting, save actions...). You need to provide the entire configuration files that make every coworker productive with Eclipse IDE.

[jmini]

One additional fact: the eclipse:eclipse plugin (aka Apache Maven Eclipse Plugin) is RETIRED.

Note: This plugin is retired. It is no longer maintained.

[boardend]

Didn't know that the Apache Maven Eclipse Plugin is retired. So it looks like that those files have to be provided, because M2Eclipse isn't able to import multi-module maven projects by its own? (Ow Eclipse...)

In a perfect world the pom.xml should be enough information for the project to be built with Maven and to be imported into any IDE. And if the IDE has to store some meta data, sure, but rather in the workspace or user preferences than in the git repo.

PS: Just saw your slideshare-link in the forum. If i get the author right, he states that you should add meta files from every IDE to your project..? So if you imagine a large, open-source Java project where people with all kinds of java IDEs are contributing, he would add all those different meta files to the repo? That sounds really messy to me...