Remarks: Processing Mazes
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The algorithm that defines the 10 PRINT maze exists independently from the Commodore 64 (C64) platform. In fact, the algorithm can be simply executed with a sheet of graph paper, a pen, and a coin to toss. The act of running the algorithm on a number of different platforms reveals what is essential to the algorithm from the specific constraints and affordances of the C64. The concision of 10 PRINT originates from its clever exploitation of the C64, as explained in section ??. For example, the code need not instruct the lines to wrap to the next line when they reach the edge of the screen because it's built into the system; lines don't need explicit x- and y-coordinates because characters 205 and 206 define them. When 10 PRINT is ported to other platform, as demonstrated in section ??, these features of the C64 need to be defined within the new platform. The primary constrains of 10 PRINT are C64 default blue on blue color palette and the 40 x 25 character screen. | The algorithm that defines the 10 PRINT maze exists independently from the Commodore 64 (C64) platform. In fact, the algorithm can be simply executed with a sheet of graph paper, a pen, and a coin to toss. The act of running the algorithm on a number of different platforms reveals what is essential to the algorithm from the specific constraints and affordances of the C64. The concision of 10 PRINT originates from its clever exploitation of the C64, as explained in section ??. For example, the code need not instruct the lines to wrap to the next line when they reach the edge of the screen because it's built into the system; lines don't need explicit x- and y-coordinates because characters 205 and 206 define them. When 10 PRINT is ported to other platform, as demonstrated in section ??, these features of the C64 need to be defined within the new platform. The primary constrains of 10 PRINT are C64 default blue on blue color palette and the 40 x 25 character screen. | ||
| − | When the C64 was launched in 1982, it was a powerful home computer for creating computers graphics. In the thirty years since the introduction, computers have changed substantially and contemporary hardware is an interesting place to re-imagine the 10 PRINT algorithm. For this exploration, we used Processing, a programming system first designed in 2001. It's built on top of Java, one of the dominant modern programming languages, but Processing is specialized for making graphics and simplifies some of the native Java syntax. Java was first introduced in 1995 and is most similar to C++ (1983)[1], which was an object-oriented version of C (1973). | + | When the C64 was launched in 1982, it was a powerful home computer for creating computers graphics. In the thirty years since the introduction, computers have changed substantially. Contemporary hardware is an interesting place to re-imagine the 10 PRINT algorithm. For this exploration, we used Processing, a programming system first designed in 2001. It's built on top of Java, one of the dominant modern programming languages, but Processing is specialized for making graphics and simplifies some of the native Java syntax. Java was first introduced in 1995 and is most similar to C++ (1983)[1], which is an object-oriented language that grew from C (1973). |
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| + | The first Processing version of 10 PRINT was written for the increased resolution of contemporary screens. It did this by making the thickness and ends of the lines into variables that can be changed while the program runs. The lines of the maze can range from 0.5 to 10 pixels wide and the lines can terminate with a rounded or square end. Like 10 PRINT, it maintained the grid of lines at 40 x 25 units, but unlike 10 PRINT it didn't add each grid unit in sequence, left to right and top to bottom, the entire grid was refreshed in unison. The color of the lines was set to white and the background to black, which gave the program a distinctly different feel from the original blues. The result is shown in figures ?? to ??. | ||
