Re: split channels and all files in a directory

Posted by dscho on Apr 08, 2011; 12:37am
URL: http://imagej.273.s1.nabble.com/split-channels-and-all-files-in-a-directory-tp3685101p3685108.html

Hi,

On Thu, 7 Apr 2011, Crowell Elizabeth wrote:

> Several people on the list have now responded very caustically to one
> user's criticism of the ImageJ language.  It is unpleasant to receive
> such messages in one's letterbox, especially since they contain zero
> useful information. If these comments excite such controversy, why not
> offer arguments as to why one language might be more appropriate than
> another?  This is not a religious issue, after all... or is it for some
> of you? ;)

The ImageJ macro language is really useful for many applications. Do not
let yourself get confused on that fact.

However...

> Personally, I am dying to know in which cases Java or Python might be
> more suitable and why.

... using Python (in the form of Jython) allows you to write programs in a
fully object-oriented manner. It also allows you to access the complete
ImageJ API, which is both more complete in parts as well as more limited
in parts than the macro language.

For example, if you need to add a button to a dialog, you cannot do that
with the macro language (since you cannot provide callback functions to be
called upon click of the button). This is very easy to do in Python.

Unfortunately, there are a few (not very many, in fact) functions in the
macro language which are not exposed via the Java API. One notable example
is the duplication of a complete hyperstack, which is non-straight-forward
in Java/Python.

Ciao,
Johannes