Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists

An introduction to computer programming within the context of the visual arts, using the open-source Processing programming language. Thoroughly updated throughout, this second edition offers in-depth coverage of Processing 2.0 and 3.0, with all examples revised for the new syntax. The visual arts are rapidly changing as media move onto the web, mobile devices, and architecture. When designers and artists learn the basics of writing software, they develop a new form of literacy that enables them to create new media for the present and to imagine future media beyond the capacities of current tools. This book teaches this literacy by presenting computer programming in the visual arts context. It provides a comprehensive reference and text for Processing (www.processing.org), an open-source language that can be used by students, artists, designers, architects, researchers, and anyone who wants to program images, animation, and interactivity. Written by Processing's cofounders, it offers a definitive reference for students and professionals. Tutorial chapters comprise the bulk of the book; advanced professional projects from areas such as animation, performance, and installation are discussed in interviews with their creators. New chapters cover data, geometry, and synthesis topics such as sketching with code, modularity, and algorithms. New interviews have been added that cover a wider range of projects. Extension chapters are now offered online to keep pace with developments in fields such as computer vision and electronics. Interviews include SUE.C, Larry Cuba, Mark Hansen, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Jürg Lehni, LettError, Golan Levin and Zachary Lieberman, Benjamin Maus, Manfred Mohr, Ash Nehru, Josh On, Bob Sabiston, Jennifer Steinkamp, Jared Tarbell, Steph Thirion, and Robert Winter.