SWT (Standard Widget Toolkit) is the software component that delivers native widget functionality for the Eclipse platform in an operating system independent manner. It is analogous to AWT/Swing in Java with a difference – SWT uses a rich set of native widgets. Even in an ideal situation, industrial strength cross platform widget libraries are very difficult to write and maintain. This is due to the inherent complexity of widget systems and the many subtle differences between platforms.
I have successfully installed the SWT in Eclipse Juno 64 bit. It is an awesome tool kit. I like the robust features that allow for the generation of some pretty complex automated solutions.
Be sure to install the examples and use the example launcher to get a good feel for the end user applications.
Mr. Arch Brooks, Software Engineer, Brooks Computing Systems authored this article.