Update after seven years (Eclipse Neon 4.6)
Eclipse now automatically saves dirty editors
By default, autosave is disabled.
A new autosave preference page is available ( Preferences > General > Editors > Autosave ) and allows you to enable / disable autosave and change the autosave interval.
The countdown is reset when the keyboard is active, when the mouse is clicked, or when a pop-up window is displayed (e.g. content support, preference page, ...).
Original answer (2009)
OP IAdapter added in the comments :
I put the plugin as I describe exists.
... and you are right!
The Eclipse plugin saveDirtyEditor should do what you need.
Copy SaveDirtyEditors_1.0.2.jar into your plugins directory.
In section
you will get a new preferences page
General > Editors > Text Editors > Save Dirty Editors
letting you save dirty files like " myfile.java " under " myfile.java.snapshot " every 30 seconds (maybe less if you want).
Without an additional plugin, however, Eclipse does not support this feature.
The closest may be:
Window > Preferences > type "build" > General > Workspace > [x] Save automatically before build
That way, every time you press CTRL + B to actually create your sources, they will be saved.
But I understand that this is not quite what you need.
Beware that your option will not be very effective if the "build automatically" option is activated ... (which will cause too many builds).
Again, not reaching exactly what you are looking for, you also have:
Run/Debug > Launching > Save required dirty editors before launching Run/Debug > Launching > [x] Build (if required) before launching
Note: the difference between IntelliJ IDEA and eclipse is the compile with save function:
As mentioned in the IDEA FAQ :
Q:
Can I enable compilation with persistence in IntelliJ IDEA?
IntelliJ IDEA does not currently support this feature.
However, there is an Eclipse-mode plugin that provides similar functionality, so we suggest you try this plugin.
Please note that by default, IntelliJ IDEA saves files for you, so you do not need to press the Ctrl + S key combination often, as you need to do in other IDEs.
However, with Eclipse, "build on save" is activated by default, hence the lack of this particular function.