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Getting Started with Processing: A Quick, Hands-on Introduction--New from O'Reilly

Press release: June 17, 2010

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Sebastopol, CA—Learn computer programming the easy way with Processing, a simple language that lets you use code to create drawings, animation, and interactive graphics. Programming courses usually start with theory, but Getting Started with Processing (O'Reilly Media, $19.99 USD) by Processing founders Casey Reas and Ben Fry lets you jump right into creative and fun projects. It's ideal for anyone who wants to learn basic programming, and serves as a simple introduction to graphics for people with some programming skills.

"We focus on learning how to program with the visual arts," says co-author Casey Reas. "Our book is a gateway to programming for hobbyists, tinkerers, and makers, but instead of electronics and construction, it's about software. It's for people who loved Logo as a child and want to pass on that experience to the next generation."

Getting Started with Processing takes you through the learning process one step at a time to help you grasp core programming concepts. You'll learn how to sketch with code—creating a program with one a line of code, observing the result, and then adding to it. Join the thousands of hobbyists, students, and professionals who have discovered this free and educational community platform.

Getting Started with Processing will show you how to:

  • Quickly learn programming basics, from variables to objects
  • Understand the fundamentals of computer graphics
  • Get acquainted with the Processing software development environment
  • Create interactive graphics with easy-to-follow projects
  • Use the Arduino open source prototyping platform to control your Processing graphics

Advance Praise
"Processing changed dramatically the way we teach programming and it's one of the major factors of the success of Arduino."
—Massimo Banzi, Cofounder of Arduino

"Getting Started with Processing is not only a straightforward introduction to basic programming—it's fun! It almost feels like an activity workbook for grownups. You may want to buy it even if you never thought you were interested in programming, because you will be."
—Mark Allen, Founder and Director, Machine Project

For a review copy or more information please email peyton@oreilly.com. Please include your delivery address and contact information.

Casey Reas (@reas) is a professor in the Department of Design Media Arts at UCLA and a graduate of the MIT Media Laboratory. Reas' software has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries in the United States, Europe, and Asia. With Ben Fry, he co-founded Processing in 2001. He is the co-author of Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists (2007) and Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture (2010). His work is archived at www.reas.com.

Ben Fry (@ben_fry) received his doctorate from the Aesthetics + Computation Group at the MIT Media Laboratory and was the 2006-2007 Nierenberg Chair of Design for the Carnegie Mellon School of Design. He worked with Casey Reas to develop Processing, which won a Golden Nica from the Prix Ars Electronica in 2005. Ben's work has received a New Media Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation, and been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, Ars Electronica, the 2002 Whitney Biennial and the 2003 Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial.

Additional Resources:
For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bios, and cover graphic, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781449379803.

Getting Started with Processing
Casey Reas & Ben Fry
ISBN: 9781449379803, 208 pages,
Book Price: $19.99 USD, Ebook Price: $12.99 USD
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000
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