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Chapter: Why
Learn
Programming
using Processing?
PDE
An IDE is an acronym for Integrated Development Environment, it refers
to a software application that is used to develop code for a computer
programming language. Processing has it's own IDE called the PDE or
Processing Development Environment.
The PDE is a
popular tool for developing Processing sketches, but another popular
IDE, Eclipse is also quite readily used too.
Of course all code is simply text, so why can't we call any text editor
an IDE? An IDE such as the PDE generally has several special
characteristics that separate it from other software applications.
1. Source Code Editor
2. Build Automation Tools
3. Compiler and/or Interpreter
4. Debugger
Source Code Editor
A source code editor is a textual editor within an IDE. The Source Code
editor in an IDE is designed specifically for programming purposes and
not for word-processing, so generally text formatting capabilities such
as bold, italicizing characters or directly editing characters colors
is not permitted within source code editors.
The source
code editor within the PDE allows you to type code, and access
Processing's API.
Modern day source code editors use color codes to distinguish different
types of data, this is referred to as syntax highlighting and it helps
to make code more human-readable.
Build Automation Tools
Programming can involve many repetitive tasks, build automation tools
help programmers perform these repetitive tasks by use of tools built
into the IDE. They might include the IDE's ability to convert source
code to machine readable code with the click of a single button (the
button being the build automation tool) or the ability to export your
source code to multiple platforms with a menu selection. In the PDE
several build automation tools for creating Processing applications can
be found under the Tools and Sketch menus. More generic build
automation tools can also be found in the other menu's in the PDE, such
as File, Edit and Help Menus.
Some of
Processing's build automation tools. Processing's build automation
toolset can also be extended by downloading tools from
processing.org/reference/tools/
Compiler and /or
Interpreter
Most modern day IDE's have a compiler and/or interpreter, as this is
the feature within an IDE that enables the conversion of source code to
machine readable code. It is in this feature that our code is given a
“meaning” for a computer to implement and for us to observe, interact
with and experience in what ever it's intended form of implementation.
You might be wondering at this point what exactly is the difference
between a compiler and an interpreter?
The terms stem from a “Compiled Language” and an “Interpreted
Language”. As mentioned before in order for a computer to make any
sense of our source code it needs to convert this code into a machine
readable format, this process of conversion is referred to as
compiling. The process is specific because the code must be fed into a
compiler in a specific language and then be compiled into another
“language” which is no longer human-readable but machine readable and
specific to a particular platform. A compiler is said to perform this
task on the entirety of the source code once so that when the program
is compiled there is no more conversion or compilation that needs to be
performed there after.
An interpreter differs in the sense that the source code is not
compiled into a specific machine readable format. So how does the code
run on a machine? The code is passed to an interpreter (which is
another software application) that runs the code. The interpreter then
determines how the code should be run continuously translating the code
from a higher level to a machine readable level each time the code
needs to be executed.
Of course at some point in order for the code to be run on a computer
it has to exist in a machine readable format regardless of whether it's
compiled or interpreted, so theoretically the difference between the
two methods is not inherently specific to the language you are creating
the code with, but rather more to do with how a language is
implemented. What this means is that any language could be interpreted
or compiled it's how the code that you create is implemented, that
determines whether that code will be compiled or interpreted.
Processing compiles it's applications known as sketches to Java
bytecode, this code is then sent to a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) where
it is either interpreted via the JVM instruction set or compiled using
a Just In Time (JIT) compiler. As a result a Processing sketch can run
on any Java enabled machine and it is estimated that there are
currently over 4.5 billion Java-enabled machines. Java is often said to
be an interpreted language.
Processing
compiles your Sketches to Java Bytecode and uses the Display Window
(foreground) for testing and development.
Debugger
A debugger in the context of an IDE is software that examines code
either as a part of the compilation process or before compilation or
interpretation in order to reduce the number of bugs within a program.
The term bug in relation to computer programming is used to describe an
error, fault or some means of a computer program acting in an
unexpected or unintended way. The process of debugging a program is
intended to identify these bugs and in some cases assist the programmer
in rectifying them. In the PDE the debugging console consists of
the Message and Text Area and can be found below the text editor and is
used generally for debugging one's own program or allowing the PDE to
determine bugs within a program.
The debugging
console is made up of the Message and Text Area and can be used to
identify bugs and track the associated values of program variables
which can be useful in identifying logical errors.
Active Online Community
Processing is not a stagnant language it is very much alive and
growing. The Language's development is rapid but not so rapid that it
becomes difficult to keep up with. A lot of this development can be
attributed to the active community that support the project by
contributing libraries and their own source code.
If you are in need of any help with programming in Processing, want to
keep up to date with it's development or just simply want to play
around with programs made with Processing online then I recommend you
visit http://www.processing.org
The forums are really easy to use and you are encouraged to ask
questions, as there seems to be many people out there that are keen on
helping you develop your software.
The latest version of Processing can be downloaded at http://processing.org/download
A trademark
image of processing.org
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