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I know similar questions have been asked before, but I am still unsure what I should do.

I currently have the latest JRE 32 bit installed on my 64 bit machine. This is the version I was recommended when I went to the download page for the first time. I suspect this was because I was running 32 bit Chrome and from what I understand it is important that the JRE version corresponds to the flavor of the browser you are using (bit wise). I also have 64 bit IE on my machine, but I hardly ever use it, so I didn't do an additional install of the 64 bit JRE, as suggested here: https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/java_win64bit.xml

Now I want to install Eclipse Epsilon and I am unsure if I should go for the 32 or the 64 bit version. Do I have to go with 32 bit because I have JRE 32 bit installed? What if I install JDK 64 bit? Should I go for 64 bit with Eclipse also in that case? Here Java and Eclipse - 32 vs. 64bit the conclusion was that I should install the bit flavor of Eclipse corresponding to the JRE version I have on my machine. But I've read in another post that the JRE just runs the bytecode and it doesn't matter if it was generated by a 32 or 64 bit compiler - it will run it correctly anyway. Am I right then in my understanding that Eclipse should be the same bit flavor as the JDK (if installed on the machine) or as the JRE otherwise? I've even read somewhere that I won't even need the JRE if I install the JDK, since it comes with several JREs.

Do some Eclipse versions come with JDK?

I need to install Eclipse Epsilon (Eugenia, Xtext) for my current coursework and it only requires JRE and not JDK. What would be your suggestion in this case? What about the long run?

What if I install Chrome 64 bit instead? Since I would be running only 64 bit browsers on my 64 bit machine I suspect I would then only need JRE or JDK 64 bit and Eclipse 64 bit.

This might sound really silly, but what about source code that I might receive from other sources (written/precompiled in a 32 bit environment) - would I have any problems handling it?

I want to make sure I get this right, so as to not have doubts again in the future. Thank you!

kanpeki
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  • Eclipse and the JRE/JDK it uses must always be both 32 or both 64 bits. – greg-449 Feb 06 '15 at 10:36
  • If your OS is 64-bits, you should use everything 64-bits. – m0skit0 Feb 06 '15 at 10:38
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    There is no enough information in the question to say one way or another. If you have a 64-bit operating system I would just use 64-bit as much as possible, but that is my preference. You can do it either way, whatever makes you happy ;) – Peter Lawrey Feb 06 '15 at 10:39
  • @TheLostMind From that answer I see that Eclipse doesn't really come with the JDK, but with its own java compiler. And that's why we only need to install JRE normally (unless we are using a plugin such as Maven that needs the JDK to be installed, that is). I was somewhat confused about that (compilation in absence of JDK), so thanks for pointing me in the right direction :D – kanpeki Feb 06 '15 at 11:30

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