Sonatype recently released a free beta version of the Sonatype Insight Plugin for Eclipse that allows you to more efficiently manage and select Java components.  It is part of the Sonatype Insight product line that helps organizations take advantage of open source-based development while improving quality and reducing security and licensing risks.

See what components are used, which versions, and when updates are available

We want to make component based development as easy as possible by providing you the tools to choose the right components from the beginning to speed development, improve quality, and reduce costly rework. This plugin, the first of a series of development tools, helps you tame the issues typically associated with utilizing open source Java components, including:

• Determining when new component versions are available and making informed update decisions
• Understanding what versions of each component are used in your project
• Identifying where specific components are used
• Updating components throughout your project

The plugin is build tool agnostic, and so works with all Java projects in general (Java, PDE, Maven, etc.).

This is just the beginning. We’ll be adding features to help you choose components that meet your security, quality, and licensing standards by providing useful information about each component right in the IDE.  For example, we’ll alert you when a component, or one of its dependencies has known security vulnerabilities. You’ll also be able to tell how each component or dependency is licensed without having to hunt through the code yourself.

So tame your dependencies today and get the Sonatype Insight Plugin for Eclipse.