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== History ==
GEF was initially developed as part of IBM's etools (<code>com.ibm.etools.gef</code>) and was contributed to [[Eclipse (software)|Eclipse]] in 2002 in version 2.0.0, consisting then of two components: Draw2d, a 2D visualization component based on the [[Standard Widget Toolkit|Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT)]] and GEF (MVC), a related model-view-controller framework that can be used to realize graphical editors as part of Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) applications. The first release at Eclipse was GEF 2.1.0 in March 2003. The next major version, GEF 3.0.0, was released in June 2004, providing many new features like support for rules and guides. Zest was added as a third project component in 2007 in version 1.0.0 as part of the GEF 3.4.0 release. Since 2004, when GEF 3.0.0 was released, only compatible changes have been applied to the framework's [[API|application programming interface]] (API).
A new major revision of the framework has been developed in parallel to the maintenance of the GEF 3.x components by the project team since 2010. It is a complete redesign that is much more modular, uses JavaFX instead of SWT as underlying rendering framework, and can be used also independently of Eclipse RCP applications. Commonly referred to as GEF4, its components were initially released in version 0.1.0 (with still provisional API) in June 2015 as part of the GEF 3.10.0 (Mars) release. The GEF4 components are to be published in version 1.0.0 as part of the GEF 4.0.0 (Neon) release in June 2016.
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==== Design pattern usage ====
GEF makes heavy use of [[design pattern]]s. These patterns are often mandatory under GEF and developers are required to understand them.
* [[Model-View-Controller]] is an architectural design pattern which divides an application into separate parts which communicate with each other in a specific way. The goal is to separate data model (model), [[graphical user interface]] (view) and [[business logic]] (controller). GEF uses the MVC pattern extensively.
** Model: The data model can either be generated using EMF, self-implemented by the user or it may already exist in case of a legacy software.
** Controller: The EditParts act as controllers. Typically, each model element has its matching EditPart. EditParts may contain other EditParts thereby matching model elements containing other model elements. EditParts also have a reference to the figure which graphically represents the model element. Finally, EditParts evaluate requests and create the appropriate command to edit the underlying model.
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