Top 30 Eclipse Keyboard Shortcuts for Java Programmers

This tutorial is about 30 Eclipse keyboard shortcuts, this list is by no means complete, and I will suggest you guys share eclipse shortcuts listed other than here to make this more useful. Eclipse is the most used Java development IDE, and knowing theseEclipse shortcuts not only improve your productivity but also makes you more efficient. You will have more time for things you like to do. Using keyboard shortcuts also helps to impress colleagues and shows that you have a good hold on tools you used for Java Development. If you are a Java developer, who use Eclipse as your main IDE for all-purpose like coding, development, and debugging, then I also suggest you take a look atBeginners Eclipse Java IDE Training Course, one of the best course to learn how to use Eclipse effectively from Java programmer's perspective.

I was a big fan of Netbeans IDE before I came across Eclipse. One of the main reasons for that was my 2ME background, and Netbeans provide a sophisticated IDE environment to enable you to build, debug and run your Java application in various mobile emulators including some advanced processing options like preprocessing, setting up Exception breakpoint, etc.

From that time, I love to know keyboard shortcuts on IDEs and other tools I used for development, including Edit Plus, Notepad++, Microsoft Excel, etc. Knowing your tools better certainly helps you to deliver more in less time and find something really quick when a production issue arises.

As I said, I was a big NetBeans fan at the start of my career but hen I joined an investment bank I came across Eclipse IDE since everybody in my team is using Eclipse and Netbeans IDE was not available in the company (don’t know why NetBeans was not allowed even though it was free) I have decided to go Eclipse way.

Later I found that Eclipse is most suited for that distributed core Java application, which runs on Eclipse and depends upon a proprietary Linux library. It wasn't possible to run the whole application in Windows, and that time some of the cool features of Eclipse like. Remote Debugging, Conditional Breakpoints, Exception breakpoints, and Ctrl+T and Ctrl+R kind of shortcuts really saved my life.

Here I am sharing a list of 30 Eclipse keyboard shortcuts, which I found most useful and used in my day to day life while writing code, reading the code, or debugging Java application in Eclipse. Btw, if you are new to Java world, I suggest you first learn Java by joining a comprehensive course like The Complete Java Masterclass on Udemy, which is recently updated to cover the latest Java version.

30 Useful Eclipse Keyboard Shortcuts for Java Programmers

Here is my list of 30 chosen Eclipse IDE keyboard shortcuts for Java developers. It's useful for both core Java developer and Java web application developer using Eclipse IDE for web development.

1) Ctrl + Shift + T for finding a class even from a JAR file

This keyboard shortcut in Eclipse is my most used and favorite shortcut. While working with a high-speed trading system that has a complex code, I often need to find classes with the just blink of the eye, and this Eclipse keyboard shortcut is just made for that. No matter whether you have a class in your application or inside any JAR in the workspace, this shortcut will find it.

2) Ctrl + Shift + R for finding any resource (file) including config xml files

This is similar to the above Eclipse shortcut with the only difference that it can find out not only Java files but any files, including XML, configs, and many others, but this eclipse shortcut only finds files from your workspace and doesn’t dig at the JAR level.

3) Ctrl + 1 for quick fix

This is another beautiful Eclipse shortcut that can fix up any error for you in Eclipse. Whether it’s missing declaration, missing semi-colon, or any import related error, this eclipse shortcut will help you to quickly sort that out.

4) Ctrl + Shift + o for organize imports

Another Eclipse keyboard shortcut for fixing missing imports. Particularly helpful if you copy some code from other files and what to import all dependencies.

You can further see The Eclipse Guided Tour - Part 1 and 2on Pluralsight to learn more about code formatting shortcuts in Eclipse.

Top 30 Eclipse Keyboard Shortcuts for Java Programmer

Btw, you would need a Pluralsight membership to access this course, which costs around $29 monthly or $299 annually. I have one, and I also suggest all developers have that plan because Pluralsight is like NetFlix for Software developers.

It has more than 5000+ excellent quality courses on all the latest topics. Since we programmers have to learn new things every day, an investment of $299 USD is not bad.

Btw, it also offers a 10-day free trial without any obligation, which allows you to watch 200 hours of content. You can watch this course for free by signing for that trial.

Eclipse Shortcut for Quick Navigation

In this section, we will see some eclipse keyboard shortcut which helps to quickly navigate within the file and between file while reading and writing code in Eclipse.

7) Ctrl + o for quick outline going quickly to a method

9) Alt + right and Alt + left for going back and forth while editing.

12) Alt + Shift + W to show a classin the package explorer

13) Ctrl + Shift + Up and down for navigating from member to member (variables and methods)

15) Ctrl + k and Ctrl + Shift +K for find next/previous

16) Go to a type declaration: F3,This Eclipse shortcut is very useful to see function definition very quickly.

Apart from these keyboard shortcuts, learning how to debug a Java program in Eclipse is also a skill. There are so many debugging tools and features available in Eclipse, which many Java programmer doesn't know e.g., conditional debugging, hit count, and remote debugging.

If you really want to become a good Java developer, I suggest you improve your debugging skill, and if you need some help with Eclipse Debugging Techniques And Tricks is the best place to start with.

Java Eclipse shortcuts and tips

Eclipse Shortcut for Editing Code

These Eclipse shortcuts are beneficial for editing code in Eclipse:

5) Ctrl + /for commenting, uncommenting lines, and blocks, see here for a live example.

6) Ctrl + Shift + / for commenting, uncommenting lines with block comment, see here for example.

8) Selecting class and pressing F4 to see its Type hierarchy

10) Ctrl + F4 or Ctrl + w for closing current file

11) Ctrl+Shirt+W for closing all files.

14) Ctrl + l go to line

16) Select text and press Ctrl + Shift + F for formatting.

17) Ctrl + F for find, find/replace

18) Ctrl + D to delete a line

19) Ctrl + Q for going to last edited place

You can further see Eclipse IDE for Beginners: Increase Your Java Productivity to find live examples for most of these shortcuts. It's a free course on Udemy, so you don't need to pay for anything.

Java debugging shortcuts Eclipse

Miscellaneous Eclipse Shortcuts

These are different Eclipse keyboard shortcuts that don’t fit on any category but quite helpful and make life very easy while working in Eclipse.

20) Ctrl + T for toggling between supertype and subtype

21) Go to other open editors: Ctrl + E.

22) Move to one problem (i.e., error, warning) to the next (or previous) in a file: Ctrl +. For next, and Ctrl +, for the previous problem

23) Hop back and forth through the files you have visited: Alt + ← and Alt + → , respectively.

25) CTRL+Shift+G, which searches the workspace for references to the selected method or variable

26) Ctrl+Shift+L to view the listing for all Eclipse keyboard shortcuts.

27) Alt + Shift + jto add Javadoc at any place in Java source file.

28) CTRL+SHIFT+P to find a closing brace. Place the cursor at the opening brace and use this.

29) Alt+Shift+X, Qto run Ant build file using keyboard shortcuts in Eclipse.

30) Ctrl + Shift +F for Autoformatting.

If you need to see these shortcuts in action, you can also join The Eclipse Guided Tour - Part 1 and 2 online courses on Pluralsight. It's not free but costs you around $29 monthly subscription fee but also gives you access to more than 5000 courses on Pluralsight on the latest technology, which is totally worth it.

Remember, we are technical people, if we are not learning which means we are going backward.

If you're a developer, you owe it to yourself to have a @pluralsight subscription. Sometimes, you need the flexibility to take many courses without buying each one of them.

And, here is the nice image to remember these useful Eclipse shortcuts for Java programmers:

Useful Eclipse Shortcuts for Java Developers

If you have some more useful Eclipse keyboard shortcuts, then please post as comments, I will include them in this list. These Eclipse shortcuts will mostly work almost all Eclipse versions e.g., 3.5, 3.6 Helios, Eclipse Ganymede, and Indigo. Let me know if you face any issue while using these Eclipse shortcuts in any particular version of Eclipse IDE.

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Top 30 Eclipse Keyboard Shortcuts for Java Programmers