Make: Getting Started with Processing: A Quick, Hands-on Introduction - Softcover

Reas, Casey; Fry, Ben

Softcover

ISBN 10: 144937980X ISBN 13: 9781449379803

Publisher: Make Community, LLC, 2010

Synopsis

Learn computer programming the easy way with Processing, a simple language that lets you use code to create drawings, animation, and interactive graphics. Programming courses usually start with theory, but this book lets you jump right into creative and fun projects. It's ideal for anyone who wants to learn basic programming, and serves as a simple introduction to graphics for people with some programming skills.

Written by the founders of Processing, this book takes you through the learning process one step at a time to help you grasp core programming concepts. You'll learn how to sketch with code -- creating a program with one a line of code, observing the result, and then adding to it. Join the thousands of hobbyists, students, and professionals who have discovered this free and educational community platform.

• Quickly learn programming basics, from variables to objects
• Understand the fundamentals of computer graphics
• Get acquainted with the Processing software development environment
• Create interactive graphics with easy-to-follow projects
• Use the Arduino open source prototyping platform to control your Processing graphics

About this title

About the Author:

Casey Reas is a professor in the Department of Design Media Arts at UCLA and a graduate of the MIT Media Laboratory. Reas' software has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries in the United States, Europe, and Asia. With Ben Fry, he co-founded Processing in 2001. He is the co-author of Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists (2007) and Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture (2010). His work is archived at http://www.reas.comwww.reas.com.

Ben Fry has a doctorate from the MIT Media Laboratory and was the 2006-2007 Nierenberg Chair of Design for the Carnegie Mellon School of Design. He worked with Casey Reas to develop Processing, which won a Golden Nica from the Prix Ars Electronica in 2005. Ben's work has received a New Media Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation, and been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, Ars Electronica, the 2002 Whitney Biennial, and the 2003 Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial.

Review:

"The perfect introduction to creating software for people without an engineering background."
--Aaron Koblin, Technology Lead, Google Creative Lab

"Making a computer program used to be as easy as turning it on and typing one or two lines of code to get it to say, ‘Hello.' Now it takes a 500+-page manual and an entire village. Not anymore. This little book by Ben and Casey gets you computationally drawing lines, triangles, and circles within minutes of clicking the ‘download' button. They've made making computer programs humanly and humanely possible again -- and that's no small feat."
--John Maeda, President of Rhode Island School of Design

"Getting Started with Processing is not only a straightforward introduction to basic programming -- it's fun! It almost feels like an activity workbook for grownups. You may want to buy it even if you never thought you were interested in programming, because you will be."
--Mark Allen, Founder and Director, Machine Project

"This is an excellent primer for those wanting to dip their feet into programming graphics. Its learning by doing approach makes it particularly appropriate for artists and designers who are often put off by more traditional theory first approaches. The price of the book and the fact that the Processing environment is open source makes this an excellent choice for students."
--Gillian Crampton Smith, Fondazione Venezia Professor of Design, IUAV University of Venice

"Processing changed dramatically the way we teach programming and it's one of the major factors of the success of Arduino."
--Massimo Banzi, Cofounder of Arduino

"Casey Reas and Ben Fry champion the exciting power of programming for creatives in Getting Started with Processing, a hands-on guide for making code-based drawings and interactive graphics. Reas and Fry are clear and direct, but as artists, they're not afraid to be a bit eccen- tric and offbeat. This makes their unique form of teaching powerful."
--Holly Willis, Director of Academic Programs, Institute for Multimedia Literacy, School of Cinematic Arts, USC

About this edition

• Publisher: Make Community, LLC
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 144937980X
• ISBN 13: 9781449379803
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208