Design

Avogadro started with a single idea. All great editors are improved by plugins.

Everyone accepts the idea that Photoshop or GIMP or Eclipse have plugin modules which add features, change the interface, etc. These programs do not attempt to solve image or text editing for everyone. Instead, they provide some core functionality to be extended by others.

This is even more important in the area of chemistry, where many fields come together and different users have vastly different needs. Biochemists need protein ribbon diagrams and residue builders. Crystallographers need unit cells and crystal face renderings. The list goes on.

The original design outline was written by Geoff Hutchison.

Goals

The project has several key goals, including being easy to use, quickly responsive, flexible and extensible. Speed of response indicates that many elements of the program should be multi-threaded and optimized for speed. Flexibility and extensibility are reflected in the plugin architecture described below.