How to Set Up JavaFX with Eclipse IDE in Mac (Apple Silicon/ Intel)

Setting up JavaFX for development on an Apple Silicon or Intel based Mac using Eclipse required important steps, Specially when, you need to ensure compatibility with your system’s architecture. This tutorial will guide you through the process of configuring your environment to run JavaFX applications using Eclipse.

We will divide this into 6 steps

• Download and Install Eclipse
• Install e(fx)clipse Plugin
• Download JavaFX SDK from GluonHQ
• Set Up JavaFX in Eclipse
• Create and Configure a JavaFX Project
• Run Your First JavaFX Application

Let’s begin!!

1. Download and Install Eclipse IDE

• Visit the official Eclipse download page: https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
• Download Eclipse IDE for Java Developers (ARM 64 version for Apple Silicon/ Intel x64) and install it.

Make sure to select the correct architecture version for your Apple Silicon chip to avoid performance issues.

2. Install e(fx)clipse Plugin

The e(fx)clipse plugin adds JavaFX-specific tools and templates to Eclipse. Here’s how to install it:

1. Open Eclipse and navigate to the Help menu.
2. Select Eclipse Marketplace from the dropdown.
3. In the marketplace, search for “e(fx)clipse“.
4. Click Install next to the e(fx)clipse plugin and follow the prompts to complete the installation.

Once the plugin is installed, restart Eclipse.

3. Download JavaFX SDK from GluonHQ

JavaFX is not included in the JDK by default, so you’ll need to download the appropriate SDK.

1. Go to https://gluonhq.com/products/javafx/
2. Under the “JavaFX Downloads” section, choose the SDK compatible with your operating system (macOS for ARM 64 / Intel x64).
3. Download the SDK and extract the contents to a location on your system (e.g., /Users/yourname/JavaFX/).

4. Set Up JavaFX in Eclipse IDE

Once the JavaFX SDK is downloaded, you need to configure it in Eclipse:

1. Open Eclipse and go to Eclipse > Preferences (or Settings for Windows/Linux).
2. In the settings menu, navigate to Java > Build Path > User Libraries.
3. Click on New… to create a new User Library. Name it JavaFX.
4. With the new JavaFX library selected, click Add External JARs….
5. Browse to the location where you extracted the JavaFX SDK, and add all the JAR files from the lib folder (e.g., JavaFX SDK > lib).

You have now created a JavaFX library that Eclipse can use for your projects.

5. Create and Configure a JavaFX Project

1. In Eclipse, go to File > New > Other…, then select JavaFX Project from the list.
2. Name your project and ensure you select a compatible Java version (JDK 17 or later is recommended).
3. Click Finish. This will create a basic JavaFX project structure.

Next, add the JavaFX User Library you just created to the project:

1. In the Package Explorer, right-click on your project and choose Build Path > Configure Build Path.
2. Go to the Libraries tab and click on Add Library….
3. Select User Library, then check the JavaFX library you created earlier and click Finish.

6. Run Your First JavaFX Application

Before running your JavaFX application, you need to configure the run command so that the JavaFX libraries are correctly linked at runtime:

• In the Package Explorer, right-click your project and select Run As > Run Configurations.
• Under Java Applications, select your project and click the Arguments tab.
• In the VM arguments field, add the following:

--module-path /path/to/your/javafx-sdk/lib --add-modules javafx.controls,javafx.fxml

• Replace /path/to/your/javafx-sdk/lib with the actual path where you extracted the JavaFX SDK.
• Click Apply and Run Project! Done.

Conclusion

Do you think this is an just an simple steps but, remember child this 6 steps can takes hours for initial setup. Anyway, This guide helps you to the process of JavaFX libraries and runtime configurations are properly set, specifically for the Apple Silicon architecture.