Processing (programming language)

Processing
Paradigm Object-oriented
Designed by Casey Reas, Ben Fry
First appeared 2001 (2001)
Stable release
3.4.0 / July 26, 2018 (2018-07-26)[1]
Typing discipline Strong
OS Cross-platform
License GPL, LGPL
Filename extensions .pde
Website processing.org
Influenced by
Design By Numbers, Java, Logo, OpenGL, PostScript, C

Processing is an open-source graphical library and integrated development environment (IDE) / playground built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computer programming in a visual context.

Processing uses the Java language, with additional simplifications such as additional classes and aliased mathematical functions and operations. As well as this, it also has a graphical user interface for simplyfing the compilation and execution stage.

The Processing language and IDE were the precursor to numerous other projects, notably Arduino, Wiring and P5.js.

History

The project was initiated in 2001 by Ryan Hopkins and Casey Reas and Ben Fry, both formerly of the Aesthetics and Computation Group at the MIT Media Lab. In 2012, they started the Processing Foundation along with Daniel Shiffman, who joined as a third project lead. Johanna Hedva joined the Foundation in 2014 as Director of Advocacy.[2]

Originally, Processing had the URL at proce55ing.net, because the processing domain was taken. Eventually Reas and Fry acquired the domain processing.org.[3] Although the name had a combination of letters and numbers, it was still pronounced processing. They do not prefer the environment being referred to as Proce55ing. Despite the domain name change, Processing still uses the term p5 sometimes as a shortened name (p5 specifically is used, not p55), for example p5.js is a reference to that.[4]

Features

Processing IDE
Screenshot of the Processing IDE
Stable release
3.4.0 / July 26, 2018 (2018-07-26)
Repository
Edit this at Wikidata
Written in Java, GLSL, JavaScript
Operating system Cross-platform
Type Integrated development environment
Website processing.org

Processing includes a sketchbook, a minimal alternative to an integrated development environment (IDE) for organizing projects.[5]

Every Processing sketch is actually a subclass of the PApplet Java class (formerly a subclass of Java's built-in Applet) which implements most of the Processing language's features.[6]

When programming in Processing, all additional classes defined will be treated as inner classes when the code is translated into pure Java before compiling.[7] This means that the use of static variables and methods in classes is prohibited unless Processing is explicitly told to code in pure Java mode.

Processing also allows for users to create their own classes within the PApplet sketch. This allows for complex data types that can include any number of arguments and avoids the limitations of solely using standard data types such as: int (integer), char (character), float (real number), and color (RGB, RGBA, hex).

Examples

The simplest possible version of a "Hello World" program in Processing is:

//This prints "Hello World." to the IDE console.
void setup() {
       println("Hello World.");
}

However, due to the more visually-oriented nature of Processing, the following code is a better example of the look and feel of the language.

//Hello mouse.
void setup() {
       size(400, 400);
       stroke(255);
       background(192, 64, 0);
}

void draw() {
       line(150, 25, mouseX, mouseY);
}

Awards

In 2005 Reas and Fry won the prestigious Golden Nica award from Ars Electronica in its Net Vision category for their work on Processing.[8]

Ben Fry won the 2011 National Design Award given by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in the category of Interaction Design. The award statement says:

"Drawing on a background in graphic design and computer science, Ben Fry pursues a long-held fascination with visualizing data. As Principal of Fathom Information Design in Boston, Fry develops software, printed works, installations, and books that depict and explain topics from the human genome to baseball salaries to the evolution of text documents. With Casey Reas, he founded the Processing Project, an open-source programming environment for teaching computational design and sketching interactive-media software. It provides artists and designers with accessible means of working with code while encouraging engineers and computer scientists to think about design concepts."[9]

License

Processing's core libraries, the code included in exported applications and applets, is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing users to release their original code with a choice of license.

The IDE is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

Processing is not a single language, but rather, an arts-oriented approach to learning, teaching, and making things with code. There are several variants and related projects:

Design By Numbers

Processing was based on the original work done on Design By Numbers project at MIT. It shares many of the same ideas and is a direct child of that experiment.

Processing.js

In 2008, John Resig ported Processing to JavaScript using the Canvas element for rendering,[10] allowing Processing to be used in modern web browsers without the need for a Java plugin. Since then, the open source community including students at Seneca College in Toronto have taken over the project.

Processing.js is also used to advocate very basic programming to Students of all ages on Khan Academy by creating drawings and animations. Learners showcase their creations to other learners.

p5.js

Lauren McCarthy has created p5.js, a native JavaScript alternative to Processing.js that has the official support of the Processing Foundation. McCarthy also teaches an introductory course to p5.js on Kadenze.[11]

Processing.py

Python Mode for Processing, or Processing.py is a Python interface to the underlying Java toolkit. It was chiefly developed by Jonathan Feinberg, with contributions from James Gilles and Ben Alkov.[12]

Wiring, Arduino, and Fritzing

Processing has spawned another project, Wiring, which uses the Processing IDE with a collection of libraries written in the C++ language as a way to teach artists how to program microcontrollers.[13] There are now two separate hardware projects, Wiring and Arduino, using the Wiring environment and language. Fritzing is another software environment of the same sort, which helps designers and artists to document their interactive prototypes and to take the step from physical prototyping to actual product.

Mobile Processing

Another spin-off project, now defunct, is Mobile Processing by Francis Li, which allowed software written using the Processing language and environment to run on Java powered mobile devices. Today some of the same functionality is provided by Processing itself.[14]

iProcessing

iProcessing was built to help people develop native iPhone applications using the Processing language. It is an integration of the Processing.js library and a Javascript application framework for iPhone.[15]

Spde

Spde (Scala Processing Development Environment) replaces Processing's reduced Java syntax and custom preprocessor with the off-the-shelf Scala programming language which also runs on the Java platform and enforces some of the same restrictions such as disallowing static methods, while also allowing more concise code, and supporting functional programming.[16][17][18]

Quil

Quil (formerly named clj-processing) is a wrapper for Processing in the Clojure language, a Lisp that runs on the Java platform.[19]

JRubyArt

JRubyArt (formerly named ruby-processing) is a wrapper for Processing in the Ruby language, that runs on the Java platform using JRuby.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Download \ Processing.org". processing.org. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  2. ↑ "People". processingfoundation.org. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  3. ↑ "Processing 1.0 _ALPHA_ - processing.org". processing.org.
  4. ↑ "What means number 5 in name "p5"? · Issue #2443 · processing/p5.js". GitHub.
  5. ↑ Ira Greenberg (31 December 2007). Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art. Apress. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-1-4302-0310-0.
  6. ↑ Jeanine Meyer (15 June 2018). Programming 101: The How and Why of Programming Revealed Using the Processing Programming Language. Apress. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-1-4842-3697-0.
  7. ↑ Ira Greenberg (25 March 2010). The Essential Guide to Processing for Flash Developers. Apress. pp. 412–. ISBN 978-1-4302-1980-4.
  8. ↑ Meredith Hoy (3 January 2017). From Point to Pixel: A Genealogy of Digital Aesthetics. Dartmouth College Press. pp. 142–. ISBN 978-1-5126-0023-0.
  9. ↑ http://cdn.cooperhewitt.org/2011/05/26/Final%20-%20CHNDM%20NDA%202011%20Winner%20Release%205-26-11.pdf
  10. ↑ "John Resig - Processing.js".
  11. ↑ Introduction to Programming for the Visual Arts with p5.js on Kadenze
  12. ↑ Allison Parrish; Ben Fry; Casey Reas (11 May 2016). Getting Started with Processing.py: Making Interactive Graphics with Processing's Python Mode. Maker Media, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-4571-8679-0.
  13. ↑ "Processing, Wiring, and Arduino (EE Tip 101) - Circuit Cellar". 18 September 2013.
  14. ↑ "Android - Processing". Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  15. ↑ "iProcessing Puts Processing.js on iPhone - But What About Browsers? - CDM Create Digital Music". 11 February 2010.
  16. ↑ "Spde: Spde". Technically.us. Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  17. ↑ "Coderspiel / Runaway processing". Technically.us. Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  18. ↑ "Coderspiel / Flocking with Spde". Technically.us. Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  19. ↑ "quil/quil". GitHub. Retrieved 26 January 2015.

References

  • Bohnacker, Hartmut; Gross, Benedikt; Laub, Julia; Lazzeroni, Claudius (August 22, 2012), Generative Design: Visualize, Program, and Create with Processing (1st ed.), Princeton Architectural Press, p. 472, ISBN 978-1616890773
  • Glassner, Andrew (August 9, 2010), Processing for Visual Artists: How to Create Expressive Images and Interactive Art (1st ed.), A K Peters/CRC Press, p. 955, ISBN 1-56881-716-9, archived from the original on April 21, 2011
  • Reas, Casey; Fry, Ben (June 17, 2010), Getting Started with Processing (1st ed.), Make, p. 208, ISBN 1-4493-7980-X
  • Noble, Joshua (July 21, 2009), Programming Interactivity: A Designer's Guide to Processing, Arduino, and Openframeworks (1st ed.), O'Reilly Media, p. 736, ISBN 0-596-15414-3
  • Terzidis, Kostas (May 11, 2009), Algorithms for Visual Design Using the Processing Language (1st ed.), Wiley, p. 384, ISBN 0-470-37548-5
  • Reas, Casey; Fry, Ben; Maeda, John (September 30, 2007), Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists (1st ed.), The MIT Press, p. 736, ISBN 0-262-18262-9, archived from the original on April 17, 2011
  • Fry, Ben (January 11, 2008), Visualizing Data (1st ed.), O'Reilly Media, p. 382, ISBN 0-596-51455-7
  • Greenberg, Ira (May 28, 2007), Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art (Foundation) (1st ed.), friends of ED, p. 840, ISBN 1-59059-617-X, archived from the original on January 27, 2011
  • Shiffman, Daniel (August 19, 2008), Learning Processing: A Beginner's Guide to Programming Images, Animation, and Interaction (1st ed.), Morgan Kaufmann, p. 450, ISBN 0-12-373602-1
  • Faludi, Robert (January 4, 2011), Building Wireless Sensor Networks: with ZigBee, XBee, Arduino, and Processing (1st ed.), O'Reilly Media, p. 320, ISBN 978-0-596-80774-0
  • Vantomme, Jan (September 20, 2012), Processing 2, Creative Programming Cookbook (1st ed.), Packt Publishing, p. 291, ISBN 9781849517942
  • Pearson, Matt (June 1, 2011), Generative Art, A practical guide using Processing (1st ed.), Manning, p. 240, ISBN 9781935182627
  • Jan, Vantomme (September 20, 2012), Processing 2: Creative Programming Cookbook (1st ed.), Packt Publishing, p. 306, ISBN 978-1849517942
  • Sauter, Daniel (May 2, 2013), Rapid Android Development: Build Rich, Sensor-Based Applications with Processing (1st ed.), Pragmatic Bookshelf, p. 300, ISBN 978-1937785062
  • Gradwohl, Nikolaus (May 20, 2013), Processing 2: Creative Coding Hotshot (1st ed.), Packt Publishing, p. 266, ISBN 978-1782166726
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