What is Eclipse RAP

The Eclipse Rich Ajax Platform (RAP) allows developers to web-enable Java applications with Ajax technology - from a single code base.

RAP maximizes code reuse by including the largest-possible web-enabled subset of the Rich Client Platform (Eclipse's technology on the desktop). In addition, RAP enables experienced Java and Eclipse developers to apply their existing skills to web development by using the Eclipse development model for web-clients. The RAP project is an eclipse.org project created and led by the RAP team at EclipseSource.

Why Eclipse RAP

Single-sourcing RCP Desktop and Web Applications

The Rich AJAX Platform (RAP) enables the development of desktop client and  web clients simultaneously from a single code base.  RAP is built on the same Eclipse technology as RCP, and provides AJAX implicitly from RAP's library of Java technology components. This significantly reduces the development effort for applications with desktop and web requirements. You can learn more about Single Sourcing by clicking the "Single Sourcing for RAP and RCP" in the left menu or download a comprehensive RCP / RAP single sourcing guideline

Eclipse developers are up to speed in web development quickly

RAP uses the Eclipse development model, the plug-in system, the Eclipse workbench concept and the Java-only API, and can also be used independently of RCP.  Developers with Eclipse experience and especially with RCP experience will get up to speed with RAP quickly.

RAP enables reuse

RAP maximizes reuse of both code and development tools by providing the largest possible web-enabled subset of the RCP APIs .   During a migration phase the user interfaces of existing RCP applications can be adapted to RAP, but the application core, the content- and label-provider as well as multi-user core plug-ins can remain in use unchanged.

RAP works on all popular browsers

RAP's rendering model enables your application to work on all popular browsers, reducing the overhead of developing for various browsers.  The framework automatically and transparently aligns to the characteristics and  security settings of different browsers.

Single Sourcing RCP / RAP

Are you looking for a solution for bringing a rich client application to the web? Learn about Single-Sourcing techniques from the webinar, presentation slides and demo code below, or download our 30 page guide to single sourcing.

Download - Guide to Single-Sourcing RCP / RAP

Work more effectively with RCP and RAP.  Read the Guide "Patterns for Single-Sourcing RCP and RAP applications".

Download the pdf

Webinar - Single Sourcing with RAP and RCP

Ralf Sternberg and Benjamin Muskalla - May 17, 2010

In this tutorial Ralf Sternberg and Benjamin Muskalla demonstrate how the Rich Ajax Platform (RAP) and the Rich Client Platform (RCP) are used to create both desktop and web application using a single code base.

No prior RAP experience is needed.

Webinar - Single-Sourcing Techniques for RAP and RCP

Frank Appel, October 23, 2008 

Presentation Slides .pdf
RAP code examples .zip
Webinar audio with presentation slides - .wmv - .mp4

What you will learn

• an overview of the architecture of the Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) and the Eclipse Rich Ajax Platform (RAP)
• how to get started working with RAP including a quick tour of the RAP Widget Toolkit
• what the key differences are between RCP and RAP applications
• best practices for programming single sourced RCP/RAP applications

RAP Demos

RAP Examples

This application shows you examples of the widgets available in RAP. It  does not yet represent the complete widget set, but a small selection.

 See the examples online

To get you started building on RAP, we've created Team Project Sets that contain pointers to the relevant RAP  projects from the CVS repository.

RAP Workbench Demo

This application shows a simple project management system that is built on top of RAP.   Though it is not a production ready application, you'll see a sample of what the RAP framework can do for you. 

To check out NLS support, see the translations for English, German and Chinese.   We'll reset the example data regularly.

Yoxos OnDemand
Free Eclipse configuration

Access the entire eclipse.org portfolio plus a large selection of the most important open source and commercial eclipse plug-ins, tested for compatibility and consistency.

Getting started with RAP in a minute

View the video for an overview of target installation, Plug-In creation and running a RAP application.

RAP and Eclipse

A brief look under the hood

 RAP applications are very similar to Eclipse RCP applications, but instead of being executed on a desktop computer they are run on a webserver and clients access them with standard browsers.

This is achieved by providing an implementation of SWT that is able to run on a webserver.  RAP provides a subset of the SWT, JFace and Workbench APIs.

Find out more about the Eclipse RAP project on eclipse.org/rap

• Review the RAP Development Plans
• Read the New & Noteworthy pages from RAP releases
• Participate in the Eclipse.org RAP Newsgroup