As announced this week on the Interoperability @ Microsoft blog, the April 2011 Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the Windows Azure Plugin for Eclipse with Java is now available.  The plugin builds on top of the Windows Azure Starter Kit for Java, which is primarily a command-line toolset based on a simple Windows Azure project template. The starter kit also includes the elements required to package and deploy your Java application to Windows Azure.

Included in this release are:

• Wizards to create and build new Windows Azure projects in Eclipse
• Shortcuts that allow you to use the Windows Azure Compute Emulator to deploy and start projects
• Association of *.cscfg and *.csdef files with the Eclipse XML editor for easier XML editing
• Eclipse wizards to add/remove/configure Windows Azure roles for your project during project creation or project properties editing NEW
• Eclipse wizards to add/remove/configure role endpoints during project creation or project properties editing (ports) NEW

The Windows Azure Plugin for Eclipse with Java is an Open Source project released under the Apache 2.0 license, and the source code is available here.

For help getting started with the Windows Azure Plugin for Eclipse with Java, check out the tutorial, Deploying a Java application to Windows Azure with Eclipse.

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