Confused. What can I do after learning Processing ? What could be the benefits of that?

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Hello !

I want to learn Processing. I just fell in love with it because of Daniel Shiffman tutorials(Coding Train).

I am planning to learn it, I even started reading a book and I am excited about that but as time goes I see many comment in some subreddit like:

Processing is not good for game dev

Processing is not good for big projects

Processing is good just for simple small programs

Processing is Java so it’s really slow, use X

I used Processing and I must say it didn’t make that, started using Y and I am very happy and never looked back

If you do want to give me a piece of advice please do ! I feel like I want to continue learning Processing but I am afraid of becoming someone that would think that it wasn’t a good decision.

Help me please with your experience!

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The main benefit is that it provides a simple interface that lets you start writing code immediately. You don’t have to worry about graphical libraries. You don’t have to worry about files, or which main function is running first. And you get immediate results - you can see what your code does.

And you can learn programming concepts easily. Data types, functions, arrays, loops, objects. Understanding these concepts is key - they translate easily to any other programming language you may use later.

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Some friendly advice: ignore random opinions you read on the internet.

Many things about coding are subjective. There is no “good” or “bad” language. It all comes down to your personal preferences, your goals, and your context.

I want to learn Processing. I just fell in love with it…

This is enough. If you enjoy it, then who cares what people on the internet say?

Think about it this way: you could have chosen any language, any framework, any library, and you’d still be able to find people criticizing your choice if you looked for them. You can’t put too much weight into that.

Processing is not good for game dev

Granted Processing is not a game development framework, but that’s because it’s more generalized. You can create games in Processing, but you can also create many other things. Recluse is my favorite Processing game. I’ve personally created quite a few games in Processing and p5.js.

If you’re trying to create the next Call of Duty, then sure, Processing is probably not the right choice. But if you’re looking to experiment and be creative, then Processing is perfect.

Processing is not good for big projects
Processing is good just for simple small programs

The gallery is a good example of the kinds of things you can do with Processing. The exhibition is another. Many artists use Processing to create their work- Aaron Koblin is one of my go-to examples.

But again, I think you’re focusing on the wrong thing. The question shouldn’t be “is Processing good for big projects?” - the question is “is Processing good for my project?”

And only you can answer that question.

Processing is Java so it’s really slow, use X

It’s easy to speak in generalities, but it’s almost never actually useful. Saying “Java is slow” is at best incomplete, because it leaves out all of the important information: What are you actually trying to do? How “fast” does it need to be? What are the actual measurements of doing that in different languages?

Have you reached a point in your project where you need something faster? If not, then don’t worry about it. (And if so, there are many things you can do before you think about switching languages.)

If you do want to give me a piece of advice please do ! I feel like I want to continue learning Processing but I am afraid of becoming someone that would think that it wasn’t a good decision.

People love to debate which language is “best”, but in the end, languages are tools. If you want to be a good carpenter, you don’t only learn how to use a saw. You learn how to use a saw, a hammer, a screwdriver, a wrench, whatever. And learning how to use one tool is not wasted time- in fact, learning one tool often makes it easier to learn more tools in the future.

The same is true of programming languages. And that’s one of my favorite things about Processing and p5.js: they are perfect languages for learning the fundamentals, because you start out right away coding interesting things, without any setup, installation, or boilerplate code.

And then if you want to learn other languages eventually, you can apply all of the knowledge you learned with Processing.

But chances are, Processing is going to be “enough” for a long while.

Good luck!

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Hello!

I’ve used Processing extensively at work.
I’ve done game and tool prototypes and made games for GGJ in record time.

I’m also coding VoxEdit in Processing.
I’ve found that Java is only a bit slower than the fastest languages available, while being much less error prone (and I have 15 years coding in C++ too).

The main issue I’ve found with Processing is that OSX is not playing nice with OpenGL and retrocompatibility, and that’s hardly Processing’s fault.

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I think this is the most important. I’ve also found excellent assistance here as well. Maybe it’s not the best, but it is multiplatform. (even IOS). I have chosen it for Android and Arduino reasons.

I love processing and haven’t reached its limits after 10 years.

I just fell in love with it for its 3D capabilities and easy handling, great documentation, little overhead…

Having said that, if you are not interested in programming, but you want to make full scale 3D games, you turn to Unity and others.

If you want to make movies, you want to use POV-Ray or MAYA or others (or combine processing with those). Or Blender of course, for the brave.

But since processing is Java you learn one of the best programming languages in the world when you learn Java. And you have access to a world of libraries.

Chrisir

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