What is the "Processing" Programming language used for? [closed]

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The language site: http://processing.org/

What are people using Processing for? I have the opportunity to learn this in a classroom setting and am wondering if it will be a good use of my time.

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Yes, it is useful and not a waste of time. I'm using Processing mainly for building proof-of-concepts for visualisations and graphic experiments. The time between an idea in my head and working code on my laptop is small, mainly because Processing does not throw too many obstacles in that course.

The ease of experimenting with things in Processing is an advantage in learning to program. Processing is actually a front-end to Java programs. At run-time the Processing code is translated to Java code.

Processing comes with a small but capable development environment (IDE), excellent documentation, a large library of extensions and a significant set of examples and demos.

Finally, I strongly recommend the book Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists by Casey Reas and Ben Fry, the authors of Processing. It's a beautiful book, carefully edited and full of sources for inspiration.

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Processing has been used for hundreds of high-end projects in a wide range of fields, from multimedia installations to information visualization. It is not a toy or an educational exercise, despite its roots as a teaching tool.

The core application framework simplifies most common multimedia needs (OpenGL, Quicktime, PDF export, camera capture), removing project overhead involved in the boring task of setting up basic applications.It uses an extensible code structure that has allowed the creation of dozens of useful libraries for everything from 3D import / export to complex geometry synthesis.

So no, it is not a waste of time.

A references from my own work:

• Stockspace

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Anything that beautiful could never be a waste of time. :) It's probably the leading tool in its space, which would be something like, "Declarative languages for visualizing data". (Though I'm told it can do more than that.) Its got a O'Reilly book - that's always a great sign.

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'Useful' and 'Beautiful' do not describe the library (processing is not a language), but the programs written in it. They are usually beautiful, but can be useful, too. Perhaps browsing it's showcase can give you a hint about some useful programs. Processing is very well suited for visualization apps, so it can indeed be useful for that.

Now, that's for the usefulness of the applications. For the usefulness of programming them, I think it's a pretty cool way to show more visually how some fundamental concepts of programs work, which you may find enjoyable. Processing is being used a lot nowadays to teach fundamentals of programming; it'd be cool to learn recursion by making fractals.

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I have used processing for many interactive installations and found it really useful, because you get real fast results. Programming visual effects is really easy and elegant. Some examples to watch:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziv8Q5N7mSU
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrT5uJox0J0
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y58wBAp7mac
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZp5HsFKxCs
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4LcfsHQnYw

If you are dealing with a lot of data (many bitmaps, videos and sound) you might consider its limitations. I was happy to use it and will continue using it for certain projects.

So as a conclusion: processing is no waste of time. It's a really useful language for real world applications (in its own domain of course).

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I agree with what the other posters have said, but I would add that every development tool has advantages and disadvantages. While it is easy to jump right in and visualize stuff with processing, the drawback is that it is hard to incorporate processing code into another project. Tools are in development to make this easier, but if you want a graphical environment that works in your application, all the time that processing saves you when prototyping is mostly lost in the re-adaptation of the code or getting it to work.

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Processing is definitely useful for many purposes.

I think the post on "Processing for Programmers" by Eliot Lash answers your question very well, and in much detail. I'll give some highlights based on my experience below, but I recommend you have a look at the post, which also covers practicalities.

Your question has to do with the perception of Processing as a simple programming language and environment that doesn't require much experience to use. However, Processing is also a neat tool that makes life easier for more experienced developers, and the skills you develop with Processing can be definitely useful outside the "classroom" or prototyping contexts.

First off, as a programming language, Processing acts merely as a "layer" on top of Java that simplifies things. All Processing code is translated to Java code first. This means you can write Java code and import Java libraries in your Processing code, within (or outside) the Processing IDE. Pedagogically, this helps Processing serve as a "gateway" programming language into Java and other fully-featured languages. You can start coding with Processing, slowly make way into Java in a familiar environment, and then progress to more advanced tools.

You can also import Processing functionality into your Java projects (see here and here). This lets you exploit the speed and simplicity of Processing for multimedia etc., in the context of complex applications that require a more fully-featured programming language.

On top of these innate features, over the years, people have developed tools, libraries, etc. that can make your Processing skills useful in many contexts. Some examples:

• Web/browser: Processing.js is a JavaScript library that lets you run Processing code verbatim in the browser. p5.js is a library for writing JavaScript based on Processing principles and functionality.
• Mobile: You can develop Android apps using Processing by using the IDE in "Android mode".
• Electronics, IoT...: The Arduino programming language and environment are very, very similar to Processing.