ImageJ2: ImageJ for the next generation of scientific image data

ImageJ is an image analysis program used extensively in the biological sciences, popular because of its ease of use, recordable macro language, and extensible plug-in architecture, which draw contributions from non-programmers, amateurs, and professional developers alike. A rapidly growing user base, diverging plugin suites, and technical limitations revealed a clear need for a concerted software engineering effort. In response, the authors rewrote the entire ImageJ codebase to create ImageJ2, engineering a redesigned plugin mechanism intended to facilitate extensibility at every level while continuing to serve the existing community.

ImageJ2 separates concerns by fully decoupling the data model from the user interface, emphasizes integration with external applications for interoperability, and uses a robust plugin framework so that image formats, scripting languages, and visualization can all be extended by the community. Its redesigned data model supports arbitrarily large, N-dimensional datasets that are increasingly common in modern image acquisition, and it maintains backwards compatibility with the classic ImageJ interface so users and developers can migrate at their own pace.