Eclipse Rich Client Platform: Designing, Coding, and Packaging Java(TM) Applications

This is my third book on Eclipse RCP and it is by far the best. I wish I had started here. The book is laid out in a tutorial fashion that takes you step-by-step through the process of creating a real-world application. It has a lot of practical advice such as how to integrate third-party libraries, and when to use the API versus when to use the declarative syntax. This was an especially important concept since most RCP applications are doing just tha -- putting a UI on top of a service. The other books that I read either provided too little information or read like a reference book. My recommendation for a newbie on RCP is to start with this book, and then augment as necessary with additional books on SWT,JFace, OSGI, or other topics such as GEF as necessary.