I think plug-ins are bad; they limit software choices,
which should be
left to the client.
In general I agree, but I think if sensibly aproached they can enhance the
wiki. For example those without a JRE installed could be sent a prerendered
png, and those with could be sent the applet.
IMO plugins aimed at a specific purpose are bad - ie the user having to
install software *just* to view molecules, but well supported, general
purpose plugins like java and flash are accpetable provided those who don't
have them aren't given 'broken' pages.
However, in addition to generating a nice simple 2D
picture, the SMILES-processor mentioned above should be able to output
any of a number of different chemical-markup representations, which
could then be made available via a link, so that your favourite
chemical-computing software can be launched (in the same way that you
might launch a viewer for any other external content). Then you can do
_far_ more than just spin it: you can calculate energies, visualise
orbitals....
Are there any chemists here with an opinion on this?
-- Neil
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