Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art

PROCESSING: CREATIVE CODING AND COMPUTATIONAL ART
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structure and clarity. The “serious” day painting that I thought was my real work was actually
something else altogether. In retrospect, although the work was self-conscious and
forced, the discipline of doing the serious painting contributed to my skills and technique,
allowing me to let go on Thursday night to really express myself. It was this combination of
discipline and freedom that I attribute to the quality of the work. I ended up only putting
the Thursday night work in the show, and got a very positive response. Of course I didn’t
get famous, but I certainly kicked butt in Piermont.
So what the heck does that story have to do with Processing? Well, when it comes to writing
creative software, there are a number of ways to approach it. There is the “serious”
way and there is the Thursday night party way. It is not so much a specific set of techniques
I’m talking about, but rather an attitude. Some programming languages and environments
demand a highly structured and rigid approach that doesn’t favor spontaneous expressive
shifts. OOP, which is a beautiful construct that I will go into later in the book, requires
planning and a well-thought-out plan; Without such a plan, a “by the seat of your pants”
OOP approach can lead to piles and piles of code and excess complexity, taking you away
from self-expression and burying you in pure digital craft, or worse—damage control. The
other extreme, pure gut hacking of unstructured spaghetti code, can yield fast effects and
little teasers, but it becomes overwhelmingly difficult to carry a creative impulse through
to a more realized form. So there needs to be a middle way, combining structure with fast
prototyping capabilities. This yin/yang approach is possible in Processing, which provides a
fast, loose, procedural coding environment with a highly structured and powerful objectoriented
backbone. That is not to say there aren’t pitfalls to working in such a flexible
environment, in which it’s easy to develop nasty hacking habits. My recommendation, and
the way I’ve structured the upcoming tutorial sections in the book, is to begin coding with
passion. Don’t let the fear of doing it right or learning everything first get in the way of
expressing yourself, but at the same time, study the language (first Processing and then
eventually Java) and OOP; it will ultimately empower you to create larger, more expressive
works.
Algorithms aren’t as scary as they sound
1. Buy a new copy of Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art.
2. Open the book to page 1.
3. Begin reading at the top of page 1.
4. Stop reading at the bottom of the last page of the book.
5. Write a glowing review of the book on Amazon.com.
6. Go to step 1.
These six steps constitute an algorithm. They are not a computer program—they are just
specific directions on how to achieve something. The term algorithm comes from Abu
Abdullah Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi (referred to just as al-Khwarizmi), a Persian
supergenius (with a really long name) from the early part of the ninth century. We get the
word algorithm from the al-Khwarizmi part of his name. al-Khwarizmi worked near
Baghdad as a scientist, mathematician, astronomer/astrologer, and author. He is also commonly
referred to as the father of algebra. You may have first been introduced to the word