You probably want to install a current Java Development Kit from Sun/Oracle.Go to http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp.
If you install the 64 bit version of Java, install the 64 bit version of Eclipse. Otherwise, install the 32 bit version of both.
Download and install the latest version of Eclipse. Go to http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ and choose the Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers.
The version of Eclipse current at the time this was last updated is Luna. It comes with Maven support built in by default, but the support for Subversion is now an option because Git has become more popular. The "Subversive" project is part of Eclipse and can be installed from Help - Install New Software. Software from third parties can be installed with Help - Eclipse Marketplace.
At Yale, you should:
- Install "Subversive" the first time you reference SVN support, it will pop up a window asking you to select an interface library option. Choose the lastest version of SVNKit (a pure Java solution for communication with the SVN server).
- Install the "JBoss Tools" for your release of Eclipse. This contains a Tool Bar control for starting and stopping a JBoss server and debugging JBoss applications inside Eclipse.
- If you are using Tomcat instead of JBoss, install Mongrel to get Tool Bar icons to start and stop Tomcat.
- Optionally you might want to install the Spring Tool Suite for your release of Eclipse.
There are several configuration options that are best set immediately, before loading any projects. Go to Window - Preferences. In the Team area, select Ignored Resources. This exposes a list of file extensions and directory names of things you do not want to be checked into SVN. Click the Add Pattern... button and add "target", the name of the directory that Maven uses as a work area to collect the compiler output and generate the artifact. If you want to use Yale recommendations (at least for this workspace) that you only check in the Maven POM and not check in the Eclipse project files, then add the three Eclipse names ".project", ".classpath", and ".settings" (note that these names begin with a period but they are names not extensions so do not put a wildcard in front of them).
This is also a good time to go to Java - Installed JREs. Eclipse automatically adds whatever version of Java is the primary (generally the lastest) on this operating system. If you want to build for a different release (CAS is typically one release back from current) then after you have actually installed that version of Java on the machine add it to this list of Java versions Eclipse knows about and set the checkbox so it is the default.
One last point. Eclipse has been known to go into a very long loop screwing up validation of the HTML and JSP pages. To avoid this, you may want to click Validation and click the "Suspend all validators" checkbox.