[PyMOL] PyMOL and programming languages other than Python

Dear PyMOL users,

Following my previous posting of today about nuccyl, there's a general 
comment I'd like to make. I apologize in advance if it will seem 
trivial, but I don't recall reading anything about this on the mailing 
list, so here it goes.

Somewhat unorthodoxically for a PyMOL-related piece of code, the nuccyl 
program happens to be written in Perl and not in Python. The reason for 
this has nothing to do with the relative merits of the two languages, 
but simply with the fact that I know the former much better (blush).

However, the point I want to make is that, because nuccyl communicates 
with PyMOL by outputting standard coordinate (.pdb) and PyMOL command 
(.pml) files, it doesn't really matter in which language it was 
written. In fact, by outputting a list of PyMOL commands, any 
programming language could in principle be used to extend PyMOL's 
functionality.

I am not suggesting at all that users should now start coding for PyMOL 
in BASIC - naturally, the best way to extend PyMOL remains to write 
additional program modules in Python. Nevertheless, for people who 
already write code in languages other than Python, the above strategy 
might represent a useful alternative (well, until they learn Python 
anyway!)

Just a thought...

Ciao, Luca

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Luca Jovine, Ph.D.
Brookdale Department of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Annenberg Building, Room 25-18
One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA
Voice: +1.212.241-8620  FAX: +1.509.356-2832
E-Mail: luc...@ma... - luc...@ms...
W3: http://www.mssm.edu/students/jovinl02
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