Seven Years Later, Proce55ing Leaves Beta!
That’s right. 1.0.
Processing.org: The most important aspect of this release is its stability. However, we have added many new features during the last few months. They include a new optimized 2D graphics engine, better integration for working with vector files, and the ability to write tools to enhance the development environment.
What a great year for Processing. It’s really poised to supplant Flash as the center of the art hacking kingdom and has influenced an avalanche of colorful software. Particularly when you think of the really successful offshoots that have surrounded it, such as Processing.js and Arduino.
As it’s picked up speed, it’s left in its wake a fine pile of code-made clothing, music videos, theatrics and flippant things aplenty. For pleasure and for break time.
Daniel Shiffman: At New York University’s graduate ITP program, Processing is taught alongside its sister project Arduino and PHP as part of the foundation course for 100 incoming students each year. At UCLA, undergraduates in the Design | Media Arts program use Processing to learn the concepts and skills needed to imagine the next generation of web sites and video games. At Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska and the Phoenix Country Day School in Arizona, middle school teachers are experimenting with Processing to supplement traditional algebra and geometry classes.
As Dan’s post goes into, it’s not just the popularity of Processing that is so exciting. It’s one thing for a language to find popularity in the cubicles and server rooms. This is a toolkit that is fighting for legitimacy in classrooms, in the editing rooms, on the dance floors and in basements.
It’s almost like Processing is paving a new road for creative hackers that don’t go for point-and-click and Flash’s deeply nested timeline. Who are, let’s just say, smarter than that. And, I mean, beyond that, Processing is open source. You can extend it into new territory.
Huge congratulations to Ben Fry, Casey Reas and the rest of the people who made this happen.
By the way, I’ve also heard that Dan Shiffman’s new book is sensational. I’m sorry to say that Ira Greenberg’s book troubled me with its extreme length and textbook pace. Maybe it works okay in a class room. I’ve always found the online reference to be very good.
Anyone out there actually read Learning Processing, yet?
Now begin the comments …
Andy
This is really great, what a cool project. I have high hopes for some of the ports to other languages I think students might find a bit more intuitive. I’d love to hear feedback about Schiffman’s book; I’ve been meaning to pick up one of the processing books.
Speaking of projects to help students learn (and also speaking of long-in-development software turning 1.0), how’s Hackety Hack coming along?
Ruby-processing
There’s a ruby-processing as well http://github.com/jashkenas/ruby-processing/wikis
omygawshkenas
I’ll see if we can’t get Ruby-Processing upgraded to Processing 1.0 and the latest JRuby in the next few days.
Processing has always had it’s aura of excitement, and now it’s really gathering momentum as it comes of age. As a previous student in a classroom where Processing was taught, I can only imagine that it will continue to be on the up-n-up. Long live Processing, the de facto creativehacking standard!
Brian
Downloaded it, installed it … okay I can make pictures of stuff and move them around.
Whop-te-do!
Can someone tell me what I – just a system admin who drives serves for a living – can do with this?
Tell me why I should get excited so I cam understand why you’re so happy, please!
Kamran
Brian: You can have fun with it, that’s what it’s for. Visualize some shit yo.
omygawshkenas
For inspiration about what can be done with Processing, there’s really nothing better than Complexification.net
grantmichaels
I have read Shiffman’s “Learning Processing” and it was definitely the most engaging of the three books (for a relatively inexperienced coder) … I have copies of both of the hardback books as well, but haven’t managed to utilize them beyond reference material. I’ll definitely be happy when ruby-processing is updated to the latest jruby/processing as mentioned above …
Andy
@grantmichaels: could you say a few words about each of the other books?
Tanner
yes please… a summary review of each of the books would be fabulous!!!
asciitronic
brian:
processing struck you with absolutely no fanciful ideas about visualizing the hordes of data you, as a system administrator, possess?
i guess there is always excel.
Brian
Kamran: Fun .. I’ve heard of that concept. Let me see if there is a wikipedia article on it.
My philosophy about computing used to be much like that of Vacuum Cleaner’s in ‘Brave Little Toaster’: “It’s work, it’s not supposed to be fun!”
I grew up on a dirt farm. We didn’t even have electricity and indoor plumbing was for effete city-folk. So that’s where I’m coming from. I’m getting better, as time goes by.
asciitronic: No, it didn’t. But now that you’ve jangled loose a few neurons I can see glimmers.
Noah R.
Looks sleek, easy, and best of all, simple. Reminds me of what Java applets should have been…
omygawshkenas
And there you have it. Ruby-Processing goes 1.0! Big speedups across the board (thanks to the JRuby and Processing teams) Grab it if you’d like.