The SDK supports the development of plug-ins and extensions to the Eclipse platform, including BIRT. The SDK includes the core platform, the Java Development Tools (JDT), and the Plug-in Developer Environment (PDE).

The DTP is a set of development tools used to develop plug-ins that access data sources and retrieve data.

The EMF supports the development of BIRT charts. The EMF includes the Service Data Objects (SDO), which is a graph-structured data object that supports applying changes to a graph back to the data source.

The GEF is an Eclipse plug-in that the BIRT Report Designer user interface requires. This framework provides a rich, consistent, graphical editing environment for an application running on the Eclipse platform.

The WTP is a set of Eclipse plug-ins that support deploying the BIRT report viewer to an application server. The package includes source and graphical editors, tools, wizards, and APIs that support deploying, running, and testing.