Particular

Particular is a Processing experiment.

I recently discovered processing, a programming language, development environment, and online community. Processing serves as a software sketchbook. Programs written in this medium are called sketches because they are experimental pieces of algorithmic art. Much as you would sketch with a pencil on paper, i decided to write some sketches in this java environment. The result is this.

I implemented a very simply particular system with thousands nodes each having their own characteristics. Interactions on the canvas bring the particles to life. Using some basic physics, the effect I got is incredibly dramatic and smooth. I haven’t experienced such immediate gratification since discovering Mandelbrot and Julia sets in grade 10.

Processing turned out to be very popular. It has a JavaScript port which makes it easy to share sketches on the web. Khan Academy’s programs written by students also uses a variation on processing.js for their online programming exercises. I decided to port my java version here as well.