How to setup development environment for Google Appengine Java Managed VM using Eclipse and Maven

Question

I'm using Eclipse Luna and have a project using Appengine java managed VM using maven. https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/java/managed-vms/maven

How to setup eclipse for best productivity.

I currently run mvn gcloud:run on command line and attach "Remote Java Application" Debug configuration.

I have this in my pom to enable "remote debug"

<plugin>
    <groupId>com.google.appengine</groupId>
    <artifactId>gcloud-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${gcloud.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
        <jvm_flag>
            <param>-Xdebug</param>
            <param>-Xrunjdwp:server=y,transport=dt_socket,address=4000,suspend=n</param>
        </jvm_flag>
    </configuration>
</plugin>

Debug and breakpoints work but I have a problem with automatic reload.

• Code rebuild and reload work but it disconnects debug every time I save a .java file.
• static file (.html) rebuild/republish does not work. I have to manual run mvn install on every change.

So the question is: What are the best practices for this.

Answer 1

• Install the Google Plugin for Eclipse (GPE)
• Install jRebel - note this is a commercial product, but there are free versions for some types of usage
• configure project as appengine project
• add jRebel nature
• Debug within eclipse

This should hot load Java, jsps, tags and web resources.