Programming Interactivity

Chapter 9. Programming Graphics

There’s an excellent reason for the hundreds of books out there on computer graphics, programmatic animation, and the mathematics and techniques that make it possible; they’re vast topics. That said, as with so many other topics in this book, our goal is not to comprehensively cover this area, but to provide an introduction to some basic techniques, inform you of some more advanced techniques, and point you to places to go for more information so that you’ll have a grounding when you encounter more advanced topics or technical challenges in your projects.

It’s quite difficult to overstate the importance of providing graphical feedback and guidance for users. That said, it makes sense to describe exactly what this chapter is going to cover. In both Processing and oF, you’ve learned some of the basics of drawing using the API that each framework provides. Chapter 13 will cover using OpenGL, drawing in 3D, improving drawing performance, and using textures. So in this chapter, we’ll focus on a few simple topics that will stitch the basics to the more advanced stuff: how to create animations, how to structure your code when you’re creating an animation, and how to do some more sophisticated vector drawing. We’ll also talk about how to create graphics that are useful to users, provide information, encourage exploration, and help the user easily understand what is going on behind the screen and how their interactions are driving those systems and processes. ...