diff --git a/demo/app/src/main/java/ro/fortsoft/pf4j/demo/Boot.java b/demo/app/src/main/java/ro/fortsoft/pf4j/demo/Boot.java
index 9f218cf..7681a75 100644
--- a/demo/app/src/main/java/ro/fortsoft/pf4j/demo/Boot.java
+++ b/demo/app/src/main/java/ro/fortsoft/pf4j/demo/Boot.java
@@ -12,12 +12,19 @@
  */
 package ro.fortsoft.pf4j.demo;
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 
 import ro.fortsoft.pf4j.DefaultPluginManager;
+import ro.fortsoft.pf4j.PluginClasspath;
+import ro.fortsoft.pf4j.PluginDescriptorFinder;
 import ro.fortsoft.pf4j.PluginManager;
+import ro.fortsoft.pf4j.PropertiesPluginDescriptorFinder;
 import ro.fortsoft.pf4j.demo.api.Greeting;
 
 /**
@@ -26,21 +33,25 @@ import ro.fortsoft.pf4j.demo.api.Greeting;
  * @author Decebal Suiu
  */
 public class Boot {
-
+	
     public static void main(String[] args) {
     	// print logo
     	printLogo();
     	
-        // load and start (active/resolved) plugins
-        final PluginManager pluginManager = new DefaultPluginManager();
+    	// create the plugin manager
+        final PluginManager pluginManager = createPluginManager();
+        
+        // load and start (active/resolved) the plugins
         pluginManager.loadPlugins();
         pluginManager.startPlugins();
         
+        // retrieves the extensions for Greeting extension point 
         List<Greeting> greetings = pluginManager.getExtensions(Greeting.class);
         for (Greeting greeting : greetings) {
         	System.out.println(">>> " + greeting.getGreeting());
         }
         
+        // stop the plugins
         pluginManager.stopPlugins();
         /*
         Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook(new Thread() {
@@ -53,11 +64,82 @@ public class Boot {
         });
         */
     }
+    
+    private static PluginManager createPluginManager() {
+    	// retrieves the pf4j runtime mode
+    	String modeAsString = System.getProperty("pf4j.mode", RuntimeMode.PROD.toString());
+    	RuntimeMode mode = RuntimeMode.byName(modeAsString);
+
+    	System.out.println("PF4J runtime mode: '" + mode + "'");
+    	
+    	// create the plugin manager depending on runtime mode
+    	PluginManager pluginManager = null;
+    	if (mode == RuntimeMode.PROD) {
+    		pluginManager = new DefaultPluginManager();
+    	} else if (mode == RuntimeMode.DEV) {
+    		// run from eclipse IDE (for example)
+    		pluginManager = new DefaultPluginManager(new File("../plugins")) {
+
+				@Override
+				protected PluginClasspath createPluginClasspath() {
+					PluginClasspath pluginClasspath = super.createPluginClasspath();
+					// modify plugin classes
+					List<String> pluginClasses = pluginClasspath.getClassesDirectories();
+					pluginClasses.clear();
+					pluginClasses.add("target/classes");
+					
+					return pluginClasspath;
+				}
+	
+				@Override
+				protected PluginDescriptorFinder createPluginDescriptorFinder() {
+					return new PropertiesPluginDescriptorFinder();
+				}
+				
+    		};
+        }
+    	    	
+    	return pluginManager;
+    }
 
 	private static void printLogo() {
     	System.out.println(StringUtils.repeat("#", 40));
     	System.out.println(StringUtils.center("PF4J-DEMO", 40));
     	System.out.println(StringUtils.repeat("#", 40));		
 	}
+	
+	public enum RuntimeMode {
+		
+		DEV("dev"), // development
+	    PROD("prod"); // production		
+
+	    private final String name;
+	    
+		private static final Map<String, RuntimeMode> map = new HashMap<String, RuntimeMode>();
+		
+		static {
+			for (RuntimeMode mode : RuntimeMode.values()) {
+				map.put(mode.name, mode);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		private RuntimeMode(final String name) {
+	        this.name = name;
+	    }
+
+	    @Override
+	    public String toString() {
+	        return name;
+	    }
+		
+	    public static RuntimeMode byName(String name) {
+	    	if (map.containsKey(name)) {
+	    		return map.get(name);
+	    	}
+
+	    	throw new NoSuchElementException("Cannot found PF4J runtime mode with name '" + name + "'");
+	    }
+	    
+	}
 
 }