The Scala IDE for Eclipse aims to provide Java-level tools for Scala and other JVM languages by extending the Java Development Tools (JDT). It began as a simple plugin but has expanded functionality throughAspect Oriented Programming using AspectJ to modify the JDT's behavior. This approach has been adopted by other language tools like Groovy and provides a qualified success, but further collaboration is needed to develop a common framework and push for changes to be included in Eclipse itself.