Which Rich Client Platform to use

Question

We recently started to develop a Java desktop app and management has requested that we make use of Rich Client Platform. I know of four for Java namely:

1. Eclips

Answer 1

Too late to answer, but some guys might hit this page.

I would go for Netbeans RCP, 1)Netbeans platform. its quite mature and has evolved is a 'easy to use' platform for developing applications.

2)Its very easy to get started with, whereas the learning curve of eclipse RCP is pretty steep. Just goto, http://netbeans.org/kb/trails/platform.html, there you will tutorials, videos(do watch the top 10 api's videos plus try out tutorials before you read books, that way you will get a hang of things beforehand).

3)Books on netbeans RCP (i guess there are 2 on netbeans RCP) are uptodate (small changes only which you wont have much issues with). whereas the main book on RCP wasn't available for a long time (recently .that is, may 2010, the new edition has been released, so that's a very good thing for eclipse RCP developers. It wasn't there when i was trying to learn it. I get frustrated with authors who don't publish new editions, almost leaving new developers in lurch. Not everybody likes to read docs. Not publishing updated books almost amounts to killing the technology). I would love to see a cookbook type book for both platforms.

4)Netbeans has full integrated GUI builder, which is big plus. Eclipse RCP, either you have to hand code or buy some third party GUI builder.

5)Netbeans platform has this pretty cool Lookup api for intermodule communication. I guess eclipse guys use extension points for this purpose. But lookup api is easy once you get a hang of it.

6)Anyways, its a big design decision, about which platform to choose. Netbeans platform works for me. It may not work for you. Both platform require efforts, both provide wonderful 'out of the box' features. Test drive both and then decide.