This book explains a lot of things. But when you are just getting started on Eclipse PDE, it can be intimidating. And the examples on the CD are too “complete”; trying to demonstrate too many concept at once. For beginners this book might be a source of frustration. However, at least this book is current for Eclipse 3.0 and the example code that I tried does work.

Get this book and read it! It explains things clearly and simply. Its examples are focused; meaning they do not try to do too many things. Also, the CD includes the electronic version of the book so you can quickly search through it (more useful than the index). Coupled with the wizards for PDE inside Eclipse itself, this book makes a good source of reference.