Eclipse - Order and Export Tab

I've been using Eclipse for a while now but one thing that has been bugging me is what the point of the Checkbox next to each entry on the Order List? Is it true that even in my supporting JAR libraries are not checked, the position on the list still matters when Eclipse does the compiling?

For example, I put my Spring2.5.6.jar (unchecked) on the bottom of the list vs the top of the list and even if it's unchecked, it's position on the list would matter?

I think this discussion would sit better in our IDEs forum, so I shall move it . . .

I don’t think those things make any difference to compilation (unless you have two .jars with classes of the same fully-qualified name), but when you have thousands of classes, they do make things a lot easier to read.

Campbell Ritchie wrote:I think this discussion would sit better in our IDEs forum, so I shall move it . . .

I don’t think those things make any difference to compilation (unless you have two .jars with classes of the same fully-qualified name), but when you have thousands of classes, they do make things a lot easier to read.

But what does selecting the item in the checkbox do - vs not having it checked in that Order and Export Tab. Does checking the checkbox do anything at all function-wise?

While ideally you define each class in one and only one place, a complex classpath setup may end up with potential conflicts, and Eclipse does complicate things by maintaining several extended classpaths for the benefit of the compiler, test/debug runtimes, and so forth. Thus, the "Order" aspect.

The checkboxes deal with the other aspect: "Export to dependent projects". If you don't check a checkbox, that particular resource won't be exported.

I don't do dependent projects that way. For one thing, I can anticipate a situation where a critical app cannot be properly built except on one particular developer's highly-customized Eclipse environment, which has been a serious issue for me on other IDEs in times past and is the reason I'm so dogmatic that all of my projects must be capable of being built on the command without any IDE or specialized environment setup at all. For that reason, I'm not in a position to explain the benefits and techniques of exporting projects, but for those who want (need?) it, there it is.

i explain best using examples

project B include project A and exports its (checks the box)

project C needs both A and B, but it only needs to add project B in the "projects" tab because of checking the box in "order and export"