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p5.js

p5js.org

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Re: p5.js

#41
post #18
post #6

I think the key reason why this link has been posted to HN now is because p5js has a new website? Back in 2023 the Sovereign Tech Fund gave the p5js folks a €450k grant[1] "to enhance p5.js Documentation organization & accessibility" and this seems to be some of the results of that investment. In my view, it seems to be paying off - the site feels a lot easier to navigate and search, with more useful information. For…

Recently did a digital ad entirely in processing and then ported it to p5js. In my experience with it… * processing is still much easier to work, even though p5js seems to catch-up. I did work with it like 10 years ago and it was already very easy * it was very easy to spot bugs or missing implementation in p5js * While an almost identical port was possible, it’s not 1:1 and takes learning some APIs * p5js is not eve…

Regarding performance, I once had an experience that I never bothered to look into. I made a cool little interactive simulation in the p5js sandbox; ran flawlessly. I then copy pasted it into a codesandbox, and it was choppy and abysmal. I checked the version numbers and how it was being included and couldn’t see anything obvious. Maybe codesandbox has some isolation that is taxing? Like I said, never looked into it.

Re: p5.js

#42
post #6

I think the key reason why this link has been posted to HN now is because p5js has a new website? Back in 2023 the Sovereign Tech Fund gave the p5js folks a €450k grant[1] "to enhance p5.js Documentation organization & accessibility" and this seems to be some of the results of that investment. In my view, it seems to be paying off - the site feels a lot easier to navigate and search, with more useful information. For…

The old site was decent and already mobile responsive.

The new site is more mobile optimized and makes it possible to read more on the higher density screens.

Discovery of p5.js is well deserved, as are the related coding train videos.

Re: p5.js

#43
post #18
post #6

I think the key reason why this link has been posted to HN now is because p5js has a new website? Back in 2023 the Sovereign Tech Fund gave the p5js folks a €450k grant[1] "to enhance p5.js Documentation organization & accessibility" and this seems to be some of the results of that investment. In my view, it seems to be paying off - the site feels a lot easier to navigate and search, with more useful information. For…

Recently did a digital ad entirely in processing and then ported it to p5js. In my experience with it… * processing is still much easier to work, even though p5js seems to catch-up. I did work with it like 10 years ago and it was already very easy * it was very easy to spot bugs or missing implementation in p5js * While an almost identical port was possible, it’s not 1:1 and takes learning some APIs * p5js is not eve…

p5.js ability to spark beginners while being reasonably capable is what stands out to me.

There’s lots of options now, but it hits some outcomes in empowering folks who learned actionscript when it was the only game.

More options today for sure.

Re: p5.js

#45

ChatGPT knows P5.js pretty well so you can ask "Write a P5 program that plots a sine wave and let's me control phase with a slider." and it does it. I used P5.js with ChatGPT to make a design tool that balances 5 masses on a circumference for creating a rotary magnetic bow with reduced harmonic locking. Drag vertices of the pentagon... https://editor.p5js.org/spDuchamp/full/zgtkE2xik Here 3D printed result https://ww…

[deleted]

Re: p5.js

#46
I started learning how to program using Processing about 16 years ago, so P5 and other similar libraries always have a soft spot in my heart. It’s so gratifying for a beginner to write some code and see some shapes move around the screen.

Re: p5.js

#47
post #19

This is a really pretty website! I'm surprised that they decided to take out the part in the About section mentioning that this is a continuation of the ideas from Processing - I guess maybe now P5.js is more popular than processing is/was?

> I'm surprised that they decided to take out the part in the About section mentioning that this is a continuation of the ideas from Processing There was a schism between Ben Fry and the Processing Foundation, so I would reckon it's political. One of his chief complaints was how the p5.js project had taken over the Processing Foundation and minimized Processing development.

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

Re: p5.js

#48
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems pretty soulless and uninteresting.

That sounds like a challenge worth taking up. (How to operationalize the soulfulness, though?)

That sounds like engineers missing the point of art

Re: p5.js

#49

I've used P5.js in a ton of my professional work although would suggest anyone interested in using it today know what happened with one of the founders of the foundation and creator of the original Processing language P5 derived from. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37760363 Knowing what I know now I regret supporting the work of Processing Foundation.

This explains a lot. In an era with so many performant graphics apis I didn't understand why processing/p5 felt so stuck, with no major changes in years. What a sad place to end up.
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