Utility classes for Processing

Library and Tool Development

antonylees

Utility classes for Processing

in Library and Tool Development • 2 years ago

Hi all

I have started a set of utility classes for Processing (along the lines of apache commons) on sourceforge:

https://sourceforge.net/p/processingutils/home/

Does anyone know if this has already been done?

If not, does anyone want to help/join?

Antony

Replies(4)

quarks

Re: Utility classes for Processing

2 years ago

I tried browsing the svn but was unable to find your utility classes. I also tried to link with the svn with Eclipse but no luck there either, although that might be down to me as I haven't used Source Forge before.

Jo Wood

Re: Utility classes for Processing

2 years ago

If you are going to develop some processing utilities, it's probably worth thinking about what you are going to offer that differs from the large number of user contributed libraries out there. Not that this should put you off, but if you want other people to use them, its worth thinking about what is currently missing so you can fill a useful niche.

Also, if you want your utilities to be linked as an 'official' contributed library (a loose term, but basically linked to from the Processing Libraries page), you should avoid having the word 'processing' in class or package names.

Jo (author of giCentre utilities which was once called processingUtilities until changed for the reason above).

antonylees

Re: Utility classes for Processing

2 years ago

Well that's what I'm asking - has anyone done this already?

Maybe I am assuming that people know what apache commons is - basically apache commons is a set of libraries that augment the java language by providing methods that probably should be available in the SDK but aren't. For example the String.isEmpty() method which returns a boolean based on whether the string is null or empty ""

The idea is that, if people are writing the same methods over and over, they could be placed in a library for everyone to use. SO far the only one I have is one that convert x and y coordinates into the value that would be found in the pixels[] array

What I'm offering is for anyone who has written utility methods like this to contribute to the library, which will then be a collaborate effort from the community. Anyone who contributes a method can have their name added to the authors list for the class, and be able to say they contribute to an open source library

Antony

kitschpat..

Re: Utility classes for Processing

2 years ago

Sorry for bringing this back from the dead, but before implementing anything it's worth checking to see if Karsten Schmidt's epic toxiclibs have already covered similar ground: http://toxiclibs.org/javadocs/

Tons of amazing stuff in there. The math / geometry classes have saved me from hours of wheel reinvention.

I'd say it's the closest thing Processing has to the Apache Commons, although most of it's pretty domain specific (e.g. it targets Processing's typical use cases, visualization, interactivity, etc.) and doesn't really seek to patch up Java itself.

Top Reply