Programming Fractals [closed]

Answer 1

If you are a beginner such activity will surely help you to improve your skills. Apart from that programming fractal visualizations depending on the fractal type and the goal you set may give you some specific skills or knowledge like:

• working with graphics, image processing;
• understanding recursion and recursive structures;
• optimization techniques;
• low-level program optimizations;
• understanding how computer operates (e.g. why resolution would be normally limited -> floating point precision and error accumulation);
• parallel programming;
• some mathematical improvement and extend your range of interest;
• understanding various technologies (e.g. you can code Mandelbrot set in PixelBender which is really fast since may be executed on GPU);
• understanding complex compression algorithms (e.g. some kind of fractal compression);
• creativity (e.g. you invent your own fractal set coloring algorithm);
• much more else :)

It is indeed a versatile and interesting field, lots of things to explore and learn. I used to draw fractals a lot :)

Answer 2

From what I remember you'll get a good handle on recursion if nothing else...maybe a little bitmap level programming as well...

Answer 3

when I was an undergrad, we used fractal drawing to power our work in parellel processing. It gets fairly computationally intensive quickly, so having multiple CPUs available to do the work lets you see a visible increase in efficiency.

So, along with recursion, I'd say it helps with learning how to balance CPU load across parallel processors.

... or if the equipment isn't available, it probably teaches you Zen-like patience. :)

Answer 4

Fractals got me thinking about complex numbers and branch-points. Whether that was a good thing is, I suppose, a matter of opinion. :-)

Answer 5

I don't think programming fractals will teach you anything in particular. Depending on the fractal, I suppose it might teach you a bit about math or fractals in general.

However, I do think fractals are fun as an introduction to programming, and beginners/students are often fascinated by the result, be it more graphic fractals like mandelbrot or julia sets, or more easy to understand L-systems.

Of course, if you're new to programming, it'll also hopefully teach you a lot about programming in general. If nothing else, fractals are interesting to look at.

Answer 6

Great idea! I think coding up fractals makes a great "etude" (study) sized program. It has some nice features this way: generally you won't require much 3rd party code, they can be implemented in a reasonably short amount of time (and complexity) and you get something nice too look at in the end which also verifies your work.

Also there are loads of basic issues in both mathematics and the implementation of numerical algorithms that you will bump into if you do this.

From something as simple as a basic Mandelbrot set generator you can branch out into all sorts of issues as commenters have mentioned. Even sticking with just that, though, you can learn about optimization techniques (why is my generator so slow) and numerical issues (why can't I zoom past here), but also if you want to a bit of color theory (what's Lab* space anyway) and other bits and pieces.

Have fun!