Fractal Programs Overview
The Fractal Science Kit fractal generator comes with hundreds of Built-in Programs which are used to create your fractals.
There are 12 different Program Types supported by the Fractal Science Kit fractal generator.
- Fractal Equations
- Orbital Equations
- Alternate Values
- Orbit Traps
- Classic Controllers
- Classic Master Controllers
- Orbit Trap Controllers
- Orbit Trap Master Controllers
- Orbital Controllers
- Orbital Master Controllers
- Symmetry Transformations
- Transformations
Click on the links above to learn how to use these programs to create your fractals.
While this may seem overwhelming at first glance, be assured that each type is responsible for performing a small, well defined task, which can be handled by the default configuration until you choose to explore that area of the application. What's more, because of this partitioning, there are countless opportunities for combining programs in new and unusual ways.
Skip the remainder of this page if you are not a programmer.
In addition to the Built-in Programs, you can develop your own fractal programs. The only real distinction between the built-in programs and those that you create is that the built-in programs cannot be changed or removed. Of course, you can change the built-in programs if you first copy them to a different location. The set of built-in programs of a given type is named Built-in <Program Type>; for example, Built-in Fractal Equations. The set of your programs of a given type is named My <Program Type>; for example My Fractal Equations.
Programs are composed of a set of statements called Instructions. The Instructions are written in a language that is similar to the C programming language. The Programming Language supports a complete set of control structures including if statements, while loops, for loops, switch statements, inline functions/methods, arrays, and user defined objects. The complex data type is the fundamental variable type, and arithmetic operators and functions handle complex operands/arguments. A rich set of built-in functions/methods are included, and you can develop your own library of functions/methods for use throughout the application.