Processing
THE COMPUTER PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE FOR ARTISTS
What do you get when you cross a computer programmer with an artist? A Computist? An Artogrammer? There may not be a term for it yet, but a medium suited for this person already exists.
Processing (at www.processing.org) is a programming language tailored to communities centered around electronic art and design. Created originally to be a digital sketchbook, Processing quickly morphed into a tool capable of producing professional-level output and has been used to create animations and visualizations for famous bands, scientific journals, professional design firms, and research institutions. There are even universities that teach the Processing language as part of their arts, mathematics, or science curricula.
Processing was originally created by Ben Fry and Casey Reas while students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).14 The project was released under an Open Source License and now has a thriving community of contributors and content creators. The site features easy-to-follow, step-by-step tutorials and an exhibition gallery so digital artists can share their masterpieces. Processing is great for getting people interested in programming because they can get instant visual feedback from their programs—plus it is free to download and use.
Feel more comfortable with a keyboard and mouse than a paintbrush? Then Processing might be for you! —GRG