What is the difference between javac and the Eclipse compiler?

Question

Is Eclipse\'s Java compiler just a wrapper around the same core that the javac program is wrapped around, or is it a separate compiler altogether? If the latter

Answer 1

Everyone has already explained that they're different. Here are some difference in behaviors I've noticed between the two compilers. They all boil down to a bug in (at least) one of the implementations.

Compile-time optimization related

• Eclipse bug? Switching on a null with only default case

Generics type inferrence related

• Generics compiles and runs in Eclipse, but doesn’t compile in javac
• Compilers behave differently with a null parameter of a generic method