Making Boids - A Foray Into Javascript
The Final Product
100 Boids in a flock
Programming can oftentimes be a magical thing. Seeing a bunch of numbers, functions, and obscure system calls culminate into something tangable is a feeling that only the few who become a software engineer can truely relate to. That feeling of seeing a screen full of odd syntax, colors, and indentation turn into something that even a non-engineer can understand and marvel at, is ( I think ) the reason that programmers come back time and time again to continue thier craft. One perfect example of this is the Boid simulation.
Boids are a system originally designed by Craig Reynolds that aims to simuate a flock of birds, fish, locusts, etc. This system of 3 rules can simulate any group of animals moving together. If you're interested in reading his original works, see here.