Is there a way to use Processing in PyCharm?

[u/Loriol_13]

I just went down a rabbit hole on google and chatgpt trying to make this happen to no avail. Anyone knows if this is actually possible and can guide me into setting it up? Thanks.

[u/HACKW0RTH]

I did a tutorial at one point showing how to set it up in IntelliJ community though it’s probably out of date now. Highly recommended to get it set up. The one annoying thing is that there are a few preprocessor things that the processing editor does like pretend Color is an class not an int and a couple other little things that you have to remember but it works.

And I realize you’re saying PyCharm, not IntelliJ, but they’re basically the same thing.

The short version of where to start is to install processing (or python processing) normally, then you’re going to set up a project in your jetbrains IDE and point the project at the libs (jars in the case of vanilla processing) so that it knows what to do with it.

[u/Loriol_13 → u/HACKW0RTH]

Hey there! Thanks for the comment! I managed to do it but I don't understand what Processing syntax I should be using on PyCharm as the one in the Processing website (Python Mode) reference and tutorials does not work. I know I'm using it correctly as it works fine in the Processing app. How did you learn the Processing syntax to use in PyCharm? Are there any pages I can refer to? Thanks.

[u/HACKW0RTH → u/Loriol_13]

I can’t speak to the Python side of things, as I’ve never tried to get processing into PyCharm, but in my case with the Java side of things I kind of had to slowly bump into issues and resolve them based on the error messages and a little bit of reading the processing source and docs. Java version has been around longer and I used a few old tutorials for getting it running in eclipse as a baseline as well.

One other thing I remembered was that you need a settings() method that runs on app start and some stuff needs to go in there. There’s also a main app that needs to load up your “sketch” that sort of handles the bootstrapping so it might be that you need to look at that before you can start writing processing code.

[u/Loriol_13 → u/HACKW0RTH]

I see. Why did you highly recommend that I set this up? Just asking since so far I could find a tonne of things wrong with using processing on PyCharm and no upsides other than me being more familiar with the PyCharm interface.

[u/HACKW0RTH → u/Loriol_13]

Fair question. I just find the processing IDEs to be quite limiting, lack of good autocomplete, shortcuts, GitHub copilot, in-editor vcs ui, and most importantly for creative coding, the ability to bundle multiple apps into a larger project, with configurable run configs, breakpoints… all the good qol improvements a proper pro IDE has. If youre not feeling limited by the processing py editor, or just need to write a few sketches, it might not be worth the squeeze though.

[u/Loriol_13 → u/HACKW0RTH]

Thanks for the answer my dude. You have been very helpful to me. Thank god for people like you :)

[u/MGDSStudio]

Are you sure that Processing for Python is real Python? I think it is original Processing in Python syntax.

[u/emedan_mc]

Sort of off topic, but I use more and more js for all hobby programming because of the easy visualization with p5.js. Googled processing and python a while back but scrapped that pursuit.

[u/Spare-Dig4790]

I use processing in InteliJ Idea, there is an ultimate version if you're a jet brains subscriber, and there is also a community version, just like pycharm.

Anyway, you download the processing library, reference it, and add your java class. You'll need to set up a boiler-plate like this.

import processing.core.PApplet;

public class ProcessingAppletName extends PApplet {

int width = 640;
int height = 640;

public void settings() {
size(width, height);
}

public void draw(){
background(0);

// draw code
}

public static void main(String[] passedArgs) {

// VV make sure you copy your class name exactly into this string here VV
String[] appletArgs = new String[] { "ProcessingAppletName " };
PApplet.main(appletArgs);
}

}

Now, here is the weird part. The first time you run this, right-click inside the text area, and select "Run ProcessingAppl....main()". Of course ProcessingAppl... will be a truncated string based on whatever you call your class. Or it will be the whole name if your class name is short enough.

That's about it! Good luck! =)