Eclipse RCP is a good platform to develop GUI desktop application. There is a bottleneck for programmers to learn how to build a rich client application. I am always very curious about if there is a most efficient way. This may be considered as a software engineering problem. The problem is how SE techniques can help with this bottleneck.
To figure out the problem, I summarize the following steps for making an RCP application.
1. By using wizard to create a sample application.
1) It is straightforward to create a GUI app with a simple view by using the wizard.
2) Knowing that the necessary callback method to implement is createPartControl(Composite parent), we can take a look at what others have done for their projects.
3) By using koders.com (previously use Google Code Search until it was shut down) to search this method.
2. Use appropriate layout and add necessary widgets.
Here need a reference about what are available to add to a GUI app.
3. Creatively improve the interface, and make it more like a commercial product.
E.g. logos, production information, status bar, etc.
4. Optimization on others, such as thoughts, ideas, usability, accessibility, etc.