manim VS processing

Stars: 30321 Author: ManimCommunity Star the manim repository⭐

I formed a picture in my head of an inverted pyramid, with each inner level positioned below and a little bit smaller than the previous level. After solving the puzzle, I got some ideas about what a visualization of the search for the shortest path could look like. I've wished for a couple years that I could put together visualizations like the ones I've seen in the AoC subreddit, and I have a strong enough feeling about this puzzle that I think this is where I should start. A recent 3Blue1Brown video gave me the confidence that Manim would be the right tool, for me, for this first job.

https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim/issues/3362

The animation looks awesome! Looks like the author used matplotlib (as they mention in a comment on the website): https://github.com/vankessel/sandbox/blob/master/graph/inter...

In the past, I have used manim to make mathematical animations: https://www.manim.community/ Manim is more flexible but that comes with some overhead of complexity and learning. Example of some animations using manim:

- List of videos using manim: https://www.manim.community/awesome/

- A blog post I made: https://azeemba.com/posts/degenerate-matter.html

harfang-wasm is a fork of pygbag.

harfang-wasm: https://github.com/harfang3d/harfang-wasm

pygbag: https://github.com/pygame-web/pygbag

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38772400 :

> FWIU e.g. panda3d does not have a react or rxpy-like API, but probably does have a component tree model?

Is there a react-like api over panda3d, or are there only traditional events?

Manim has a useful API for teaching. Is there a good way to do panda3d with a manim-like interface? https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim/issues/3362#issuecom...

Manim Community: The Manim community (https://www.manim.community/) is a vibrant group of developers, educators, and enthusiasts who share their knowledge and creations. Joining the community is a great way to learn from others and get inspiration for your own projects.

Glaze! is an interactive media framework in Divooka that features a Processing-like interface.

I have been following HyperCard clones for years. It would take me some time to gather what I found, but the short answer is to download a Mac OS 9 emulator (it works) and load up HyperCard 2.4.1 and have fun.

Emulators page with links to versions for MacOS and Windows.

https://mendelson.org/emulators.html

Hypercard 2.4.1 is available at the Macintosh Repository

https://www.macintoshrepository.org/2632-hypercard-2-4

I had bought it long and used it in my work to make simulations with graphical output (via XCMDS) and to output EPS files for tech pubs. I think that the in-house use of HyperCard was vastly under-reported.

I'll update in a reply if and when I find the best standalone HC clones in my search.

Naturally, the full-blown emulator and HC are not for kids, unless you install it for your kids. I let my daughter have some fun with the original HyperCard, and I keep a MacCube with MacOS9 for sentimental reasons, though it's boxed right now.

Sightly off-topic, Processing offers highly graphical coding.

https://processing.org/

And gcompris offers lots of educational apps that one might have written in HyperCard.

https://www.gcompris.net/index-en.html

You can learn more about the Processing software and community at processing.org, or visit the Processing4 repository, Processing website repository, and our roadmap.

>web dev/gradle/java knowledge to build something like this

Web dev (and not just in java) is dominated by "component integration" concerns, containing lots of structure but little content. Computation is delegated to libraries, and the problems more about complexity of integration (at build time) scaled distributed systems (at runtime). In contrast, writing a simulation is computationally intensive, so most of the code is content. It's homogenous where web dev is heterogenous. The problems are entirely constrained by single process performance within a time budget determined by fps.

All that means is that you can focus on one runtime. I suggest the browser, since it solves the distribution problem. Ganja[1] is perhaps the ultimate "content, not structure" simulation project. It's very strange, and lies unmaintained because it's impenetrable. Yet it works. A bit more structured is D3 who's authors have written cutting edge visulation/layout algorithms for you, for example in support of force directed graphs[2]. A more friendly way to get started would be with some variant of Processing[3], which started as a Java thing and then got ported around, including to Python and JavaScript. A word of warning: something like cloth simulation is to a game engine what a single cell is to a mouse. Game engines are huge, in other words, and again you won't be writing simulations, lots of (internal) integrations.

1 - https://github.com/enkimute/ganja.js/blob/master/ganja.js

2 - https://github.com/d3/d3-force/tree/main/src

3 - https://processing.org/

This is a nice comment and speaks to the notion that every medium has its own characteristic feel even is not "better" by some metric (e.g. vinyl vs CDs, vs cassettes, vs live radio, vs mp3, etc.).

A similar feeling of immediacy without any intervening concerns is hacking away at a Processing [https://processing.org/] sketch. In some sense it's the complete opposite of retro computing, but it engenders similar experiences. Such as a programming novice typing in a few numbers and being amazed that they've immediately made something interactive and colorful, and temptingly close to being called a game.

In high school the first languages and tools I remember using were things like Turing, Processing, GreenFoot and BlueJ. All of which were learning tools, and with the exception of Turing, were Java abstractions with the main focus on graphical programming. These tools allowed me to do some pretty cool things, very quickly. These early experience are really what inspired my interest.

Some more context: Ben Fry posted a thread on X in 10/2023[1] where he announced and explained his decision to resign from the Processing Foundation.

Seems like Processing got left out from expenses despite their large budget, running against their original reason to start the foundation: “I was soon shocked to learn that the Foundation spent nearly $800,000 last year. $0 of that went to Processing 4. This year, the proposed Foundation budget is around $1.2 million. But for Processing, there is budget for just two people: one developer, one community lead. You know what that sounds like? The reason we started a Foundation in the first place. Two people is not enough for any of the Processing software projects (i.e. anything that lives at a http://processing.org domain.)”

I wonder if most of the money went into p5 or the new website or whatever, but it made me a bit sad to see that the original Processing got left behind. It is what got me into programming and there are still lots of good reasons to choose it over p5. I can, however, understand if they prioritised p5 due to the rise of web apps and mobile devices, sharability, JS being everywhere and so on. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but it just doesn’t bring me as much joy as the original.

[1]: https://x.com/ben_fry/status/1709400641456501020

The Processing Foundation is thrilled to announce the open call for pr05 (pronounced “pros”), a new grant and mentorship initiative designed to support the professional growth of early to mid-career software developers through hands-on involvement in open-source projects. This is a unique opportunity to grow as a developer while making a tangible impact on software projects used by millions of creatives, artists, educators, and students globally. The topic of this year’s program is 'New Beginnings', focusing on supporting projects that will enhance and solidify the Processing and p5.js ecosystems and help lay strong foundations for their futures.

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I disagree. There are so many creative tools that are now online that you can access from your browser that were not envisioned in the original web. It is obviously true that not EVERY website is about creation (but to expect that seems unreasonable?), but even Wikipedia is a collaborative project.

Examples include products from big vendors like Adobe's Photoshop, to smaller products like SketchUp, to more indy generative art tools like https://processing.org and Strudel (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39924210).