John Conway's Life algorithm is a cellular automata that evolves through simple rules. More information can be found at this link.
Here are some implementations using CircuitPython.
life.py
output can be printed (serial output), or displayed on a max7219-controlled LED matrix or both.
life-simple.py
Supports only print output. In both versions, the grid size can be adjusted depending on available memory.
The algorithm is implemented on a 2D grid (x by y pixels). The grid is surrounded by a layer of zero cells to keep the community within the boundary. The grid is represented using a bytearray() with a byte for each cell in the grid in row-first order.
For example, the 8x8 grid:
x . . . . . . .
x x . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
Would be represented as something close to:
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| x | | | | | | | | x | x | | | | | | | . . .
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Technically, the grid is bordered with zeros so there are some extra cells in the list, but this is the main idea.
For each generation, A census is taken for each cell by counting neighbors using offsets from the current cell (for an 8x8 grid the offsets are -11, -10, -9, -1, +1, 9, 10, 11). Once the cell census it complete, the next generation is calculated according to Life's rules.
These scripts require the following adafruit CircuitPython modules:
adafruit_bus_device
adafruit_max7219
adafruit_framebuf.mpy
And the following custom module (LED Matrix Repository):
ledmatrix.py
The world grid can be displayed on one or more common 8x8 LED grids controlled by max7219 LED drivers. The connections are as follows
max7219 grid | VCC -> +5V | Microcontroller
| GND -> GND |
| DIN -> TX | <MOSI>
| CS -> A1 |
| CLK -> RX | <SCK>
The scripts have been tested on Trinket M0, and Circuit Playground Express, but likely run on other CircuitPython boards (perhaps with some pin changes)