RFR: 8306707: Support pluggable image loading via javax.imageio

[John Hendrikx]

On Mon, 7 Oct 2024 15:13:17 GMT, Michael Strauß <mstrauss at openjdk.org> wrote:

> This PR is an improved version of #1093.
> 
> JavaFX can load BMP, GIF, PNG, and JPEG images with its built-in image loaders. It has been a long-standing request to support more image formats, most notably (but not limited to) SVG. However, adding more built-in image loaders is a significant effort not only in creating the functionality, but also in maintaining the additional dependencies.
> 
> This will probably not happen any time soon, so we are left with three alternatives:
> 1. Accept the fact that JavaFX will never be able to load additional image formats.
> 2. Create a public image loader API, and hope that developers in the JavaFX ecosystem will create image loader plugins.
> 3. Leverage the existing Java Image I/O API.
> 
> From these options, I think we should simply support existing Java APIs; both because it is the shortest and most realistic path forward, but also because I don't think it is sensible to bifurcate pluggable image loading in the Java ecosystem.
> 
> Of course, Java Image I/O is a part of the `java.desktop` module, which as of now, all JavaFX applications require. However, it has been noted in the previous PR that we shouldn't lock JavaFX into the `java.desktop` dependency even further.
> 
> I've improved this PR to not permanently require the `java.desktop` dependency: if the module is present, then JavaFX will use Image I/O for image formats that it can't load with the built-in loaders; if the module is not present, only the built-in loaders are available.
> 
> I have prepared a small sample application that showcases how the feature can be used to load SVG images in a JavaFX application: https://github.com/mstr2/jfx-imageio-sample

Any idea why FX has custom image loaders at all, and doesn't simply always delegate to `ImageIO` for this?  If the dependency burden is high, it could be further reduced by removing built-in decoders?  In other words, what's the advantage of the built-in decoders vs `ImageIO` ones?

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PR Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/jfx/pull/1593#issuecomment-2414908733