Eclipse was released in June 1999 by IBM as a platform to aid developers in producing applications based on Java technology. The software is named after the lunar event of the same name, which is where the idea of developing a platform for applications based on the Java programming language originated.

Eclipse can be used to do many amazing things. It can be used to write code, debug, program, run, test, analyze, configure, compile, and build Java applications. You can also create your own application with Eclipse. 

You can also create your own project, package, library, class, and interface. Eclipse also provides us with various perspectives. Some of the perspectives are Java, Debug, JUnit, PDE, Plug-in development, etc.