The uDig platform has chosen technologies and design strategies with the goals of: Development Platform Features Design Philosophy
Use the software update system to download and install optional extensions! GPS loading, specialized map graphics, and other community contributed tools. UDig supports in-place software upgrades! Once you install it once, you never have to re-install, just go to the software update menu to load the latest version.
Keeping layer interactions the same between data sources simplifies use understanding of the application – whether data is a local shape file, nearby database, or remote Web Feature Server, the same tools and operations apply.