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Processing (P5) had this: you can select any string of text in its IDE anl search for it in the docs, and if it's one of the built-in functions or constants it
by vanderZwan 3y ago
Processing (P5) had this: you can select any string of text in its IDE anl search for it in the docs, and if it's one of the built-in functions or constants it will open the associated static html page that came installed with the software, so no internet nor server required. And despite being offline you can still navigate the docs too. This feels a lost basic skill in static site generation these days.
It was the only creative coding framework that had complete, offline documentation like that at the time I might add. OpenFrameworks is still mostly autogenerated stubs for example.
IMO it was one of the things that gave Processing an edge in educational contexts over all alternatives. I was pretty sad to see p5.js not fully continue that tradition and require that you go online to read the docs, and that it's not a static website but that text is rendered with javascript when you open it (still complete and with examples though).
https://processing.org/ https://processing.org/
https://p5js.org/ https://p5js.org/
- enraged_camel 3y agoYou speak in past tense but isn’t Processing still in use? I distinctly remember using it to program my Arduino just five years ago.
- edu 3y agoYes, it's in use and well alive. The latest release, 4.3, is from July 26, 2023. Although I think that p5.js is growing faster, as it's more accessible (browser IDE, not typed) and the artworks are easier to distribute online.
- vanderZwan 3y agoIt is, but I haven't used it in a long time so didn't want to imply anything about the current implementation, since I don't know if anything changed in the last decade. I hope it's still as good as I remember!