Purpose
Like most scripting languages, COFFEE is used to extend or modify the functionality of the host software. This technique is preferable to writing a so-called plug-in module using a traditional language such as C for a number of reasons, among them:
- The scripting language implicitly handles memory management on the user's behalf, where C does not;
- The language interpreter does not require programs to be compiled as a separate step before they can be used;
- A purpose-built scripting language can be tailored so that it lends itself to its intended usage. For example, COFFEE has built-in mathematical functions that are necessary for 3D graphics programming.
There are several different aspects of CINEMA 4D's operation that can be customised using COFFEE scripts, notably additions to the user interface and extensions for reading and writing new file formats and creating texture shaders. Almost all the main functionality of the application can be accessed from a COFFEE program, and so customised features can look and behave much like those supplied as standard.
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