---[ A crashcourse in Code]---
p5.js has evolved out of Processing, perhaps the most important toolkit geared towards teaching artists to program. For nearly 15 years Processing has promoted software literacy, particularly within the visual arts, and visual literacy within technology. During that time artists from all over the world have been using it to make brilliant new works of interactive and generative art.
During the summer of 2014, Lauren McCarthy and a community of enthused artists and programmers began working on p5.js, a version of Processing that was written in JavaScript, the scripting language of the web. JavaScript as a language has undergone a recent renaissance and has strongly positioned itself as one of today's most popular and flexible languages. Using p5.js also means that we can host and share the sketches that we make on the web.
Gear Up • software, a good mindset, inspiration + pointers to additional learning resources
Quickstart • getting our hands dirty
Foundation • the most commonly used functions and functionalities
Employment • time for some more instantly practical knowledge
Advanced • a step up the learning curve
Bits&Bobs • useful bits and bobs
bonus: Generative Art • a collection of historical examples of Generative Art
- Watch this interactive video from Lauren McCarthy and Daniel Shiffman
- Read the p5.js Community Statement.
- Sign up for an account on the p5js web editor
- And optionally check some of the p5.js examples to get familiar with the possibilities
For these notes, I have taken major and minor parts from other sources. These are: [Creative Coding by Allison Parrish](https://creative-coding.decontextualize.com/), [Getting Started with p5.js book, by Lauren McCarthy, Casey Reas & Ben Fry](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/make-getting-started/9781457186769/), [Programming For Artists, An introduction to programming for artists by Brannon Dorsey](https://brannondorsey.github.io/ProgrammingForArtists/), [Introduction to p5.js by Johannes Preis](https://medium.com/comsystoreply/introduction-to-p5-js-9a7da09f20aa) & [the p5.js website](https://p5js.org/)