RFR: 8335218: Eclipse Config: Remove Gradle Integration

[Kevin Rushforth]

On Wed, 26 Jun 2024 21:23:34 GMT, Andy Goryachev <angorya at openjdk.org> wrote:

> This might be controversial. I am proposing to remove the Gradle integration in the Eclipse config files.
> 
> Problem
> =======
> Eclipse Gradle integration (Buildship) cannot import the OpenJFX build.gradle cleanly. Every time the project is imported into a new workspace (or re-opened after being closed) it executes Gradle, creates and modifies a number of Eclipse .project and .classpath files, all of which need to be reverted for Eclipse workspace to become usable again.
> 
> Solution
> ======
> Remove Gradle nature from the Eclipse project files. This change only affects Eclipse config files and does not impact build.gradle or other IDEs.
> 
> Advantages
> =========
> 1. The multiple nested projects in the repo will get imported cleanly on the first attempt, will not require additional steps to clear the Buildship changes.
> 2. completely removes the dependency on the Eclipse Buildship and its idiosyncrasies.
> 
> NOTES:
> - even though the reverse was done for IntelliJ, but its gradle import still does not import tests cleanly, see [JDK-8223373](https://bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8223373)
> - this improvement contradicts [JDK-8223374](https://bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8223374) as without Eclipse files in the repo, it will be impossible to use Eclipse in a meaningful way without the fully functional Buildship support, and that is a big IF.
> - once integrated, Eclipse users would only need to re-import the main project with 'search for nested projects' enabled

Reviewers: @nlisker 

This will need discussion among and review by the Eclipse users on the list.

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PR Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/jfx/pull/1491#issuecomment-2192730889