Interface

After unzipping and installing the downloaded software, this is what you should see when you run processing.exe:

The number after "sketch_" will be related to the date you opened the new project file.

Parts of the Interface

Run and Stop

The "run" button (looks like a play button) runs your code.

The "stop" button stops running your code - helpful when it has errors or starts to crash your computer.

Debug and Mode

The debug button helps you go through each part of the code, but the good news is, the program will underline errors and tell you what the error is as you write your code.

The default mode is Java - a coding language that Processing is a derivative of and uses. It is an explicit language, meaning you will need to tell it what kind of type each variable is.

Code Window

I'm not sure that's what it's called, but you can have multiple tabs to organize your code at the top - each a different file. Along the left are numbered lines to help with finding and fixing errors.

The Console

The super important area that tells you what errors you have and provides a way for your code to give you an output text message.

Examples

Error when missing a semi-colon:

Notice that there is an unused variable:

How a message looks when printed to the console:

Example of the Errors tab and its information:

Here, you see that:

• The error is underlined in the code

• There is a red band in the console with what is causing the error

• It says what tab/file the error is in

• It also provides the line number with the error