Introduction to Processing | Java

Last Updated : 25 Apr, 2025

Processing is an open-source programming language and development environment that is built on top of the Java programming language. It is specifically designed for artists, designers, and other creative professionals who want to create interactive graphics, animations, and other visual applications.

Processing was created in 2001 by Ben Fry and Casey Reas, who were both students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the time. They wanted to create a programming language that was easy to learn and use, while still being powerful enough to create complex interactive applications.
One of the main goals of Processing is to make programming more accessible to people who are not professional software developers. The language has a simple syntax that is easy to read and write, and it provides a large number of pre-built functions and libraries that can be used to create complex visual effects without having to write a lot of code from scratch.
Processing also provides an interactive development environment (IDE) that makes it easy to write, test, and debug code. The IDE includes features such as code highlighting, autocompletion, and a visual debugger, which makes it easier to catch and fix errors in your code.

Since Processing is built on top of Java, it is fully compatible with Java libraries and can be used to create full-fledged Java applications. This means that Processing is not just limited to creating visual applications; it can also be used to create data-driven applications, games, and other software.

Processing has a large and active community of users, who have created a wide variety of projects using the language. The Processing website provides a wealth of resources for learning the language, including tutorials, reference guides, and a large collection of example projects.

Processing is an open-source low level animation and GUI library built on Java with additional simplifications like additional classes, aliased mathematical functions and operations. It also provides a GUI for simple compilation of the programs written in processing. Features of Processing: The following are the features of processing:

It includes a sketchbook which is a minimalistic alternative to an IDE. This sketchbook can be used as a normal IDE to organize projects.
Every sketch drawn in processing is a subclass of the Java class(PApplet). This class implements almost all the features of processing.
Since processing inherits the properties of the class, all the additional classes defined in the sketch will be treated as an inner class when the code is being converted into a pure java code before compiling. Therefore, the use of static variables and methods is strictly prohibited in processing.
The processing language also gives the users an option to create own classes in the PApplet sketch. Therefore, this gives the users a chance to use a more complex data structures apart from the basic data types in java.

Installing Processing: In order to code in the processing language, the users can either download processing sketchbook from the official website. Apart from that, the users can also download the code jar file and set it up in any of the IDE to use processing.

Example: The following is an example to get an understanding of how to code in processing. Let’s see how to draw a circle in processing. In order to do this, we need to learn about the main function that processing invokes from its library. That means, we only have to define this function but not invoke it. Below is a sample processing code which draws a circle:

Java

// This function is called whenever we
// start the app.
void setup()
{
    // This function is a built in function
    // in processing which takes two
    // arguments: width and height
    // 400, 400 means a window of
    // length 400 pixels and width
    // 400 pixels
    size(400, 400);
}
 
// This function is called once per
// frame. That is, if the frame rate
// is 60, then this will be called
// 60 times in one second
void draw()
{
 
    // This is also an inbuilt function
    // which can take 4, 3 or 1 argument
    // where each argument represents the
    // intensity of each colour like:
    // 4 = (red, green, blue alpha)
    // 3 = (red, green, blue)
    // 1 = (gray_scale_value)
    background(0);
 
    // This command draws the circle
    // on our canvas at x=width/2,
    // y=height/2, diameter=200
    circle(width / 2, height / 2, 200);
}

Output: The output for the above program is:

Advantages of Processing:

Easy to learn: Processing has a simple syntax that is easy to learn and use, making it accessible to people who are not professional software developers.
Rich library: Processing comes with a large number of pre-built functions and libraries that can be used to create complex visual effects without having to write a lot of code from scratch.
Interactive development environment: The Processing IDE provides a user-friendly environment that includes features such as code highlighting, autocompletion, and a visual debugger, which makes it easier to write, test, and debug code.
Cross-platform compatibility: Processing code can run on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Large community: Processing has a large and active community of users who have created a wealth of resources, including tutorials, reference guides, and example projects.

Disadvantages of Processing:

Limited performance: Processing is a high-level language that is designed for ease of use and flexibility, rather than raw performance. This means that it may not be the best choice for applications that require high performance or low-level control.
Limited hardware support: While Processing can be used to create software for a wide range of platforms, it may not be the best choice for creating applications that require direct access to hardware, such as drivers or embedded systems.
Not suitable for complex applications: While Processing is great for creating visual applications and simple games, it may not be the best choice for creating large, complex applications, as it may not provide the level of control and scalability required for such projects.
Limited interoperability: While Processing can be used to create Java applications, it may not be the best choice for integrating with other programming languages or systems, as it is designed primarily for standalone visual applications.
May not be suitable for all types of projects: Although Processing is great for creating visual projects, it may not be the best choice for certain types of applications, such as database-driven applications, scientific computing, or machine learning.

Introduction to Java Agent Programming

harshitrepa

Improve

Article Tags :

Practice Tags :

Introduction to Processing | Java

Java

Advantages of Processing:

Disadvantages of Processing:

Similar Reads