Intro to Creative Coding
What is Creative Coding?
Going into Creative Coding, I had the inkling that we would be using code to express ourselves. My first thought was that it would be pretty much visual, but after seeing other people’s work, I learned that, rather than a one-sided audience viewing a result, it can draw the audience in to interact with. After learning that JavaScript defines behaviors, it really clicked for me that we wouldn’t just be coding basic, stagnant webpages, but learning to manipulate code to really express what we want.
I didn’t even realize that a game like Papers, Please could fall under creative coding. But it was a game I really enjoyed, that in retrospect is fairly straightforward in terms of the interactive behaviors. I also loved that it had underlying commentary about strict laws vs. the empathy the player might feel for some characters, while balancing their own livelihood.
My Goals
I’ve had a lot of basic experience with different languages from HTML to Python, but I’ve never really wanted to get too in depth with “how the car works.” I attributed it to projects and lesson plans being boring, so I’m optimistic about creative coding providing both the constraints and freedom to explore. At the same time, I’m intrigued by emerging AI tools, so I think I’ll definitely use it as both a tool to get code quickly and to learn from that code.
I’ve also often used plain old internet to find code for things I didn’t know how to make. I have talked to other friends with coding experience, and it seems like finding code online is a universal experience when trying to figure out how to write code on your own. It’s such a good resource for beginner and advanced coders alike to continuously build on our coding knowledge. Though because there is so much content out there, it can definitely be easy for work to be “stolen” without the creator even knowing. In the art world, credit and ownership is such a big topic of discussion. On the other hand, code is so interconnected and shared, that credit can often be a grey area. Especially in creative coding, I think it’s important to maintain the best practice of attribution and giving credit where it’s due.
