ICM » Week 1: First p5 Sketch

Holy cow, that was brutal.

Drawing shapes with coordinates is no fun. I’m sure I’m not the first to say but god, it’s such cruelty to be looking at the sketch and not be able to select and drag points around.

I recalled having seen Yining Shi’s P5.Playground while pursuing the ICM syllabus over the summer. I’d assumed (incorrectly) it would save me but alas, without an interface (and a canvas) that matched the P5.js editor one-for-one, the struggle was just as painful, only inverted. Trying to get the code to play nice was no more helpful than manipulating coordinates in the editor one argument at a time.

Having said all that, I’m blown away by the editor. It’s so approachable and it exudes possibility. Which only makes it all the more maddening, to be banging away at lines of code without being proficient.

I’ve always envied those individuals who gleefully travel abroad without knowing how to speak the language of the land. Even more so the ones who travel alone, they’re just so fearless. I wish I were more like them but always find it agonizing and profoundly isolating.

I think this struggle with code is not unlike that experience.