Alright, let me tell you about my dive into “evan fitterer.” It wasn’t some pre-planned, textbook-perfect project. More like stumbling into a rabbit hole and figuring things out as I went.
So, I first heard the name “evan fitterer” tossed around in some online forums I frequent. People were talking about some cool stuff he’d done with, like, data visualization and generative art. Figured I’d poke around, see what the fuss was about.
Started with a basic search, landed on his website. Pretty clean, straightforward. Saw some projects that caught my eye – one involving some kind of interactive map, another with funky procedural patterns. I wanted to dig deeper, but honestly, I didn’t even know where to start. I didn’t even have the right tools installed at first, LOL!
I began by just trying to replicate one of his simpler visualizations. It involved grabbing some public data, massaging it into a usable format, and then using a library (I think it was *, from what I could tell from the source code) to render it in a browser. Seemed easy enough… until I actually tried it.
First hurdle? Data wrangling. The dataset I found was a complete mess – missing values, inconsistent formatting, the whole shebang. Spent a good chunk of time just cleaning that up using Python and Pandas. Honestly, that part alone felt like a major accomplishment!
Then came the * part. I’d dabbled with JavaScript before, but d3 was a whole different beast. Spent hours poring over documentation, tweaking code, and banging my head against the wall when things didn’t work as expected. I really had to get my hands dirty and start debugging line by line. I even had to look up some basic JavaScript syntax that I’d forgotten! Total facepalm moment.
Slowly but surely, though, things started to come together. I managed to get the data loaded, the basic chart rendered, and even added some interactivity. It wasn’t exactly a carbon copy of Evan’s work, but it was mine, damn it!
But I did not stop there! I wanted to try out the generative art aspect of his portfolio. So I set out to create something similar, and this time I was prepared. I had already refreshed my memory on my linear algebra, and I had already brushed up my coding skills. So this time, I used processing to create a simulation. It was slow at first, so I had to optimize it so that it would have a good framerate. Then I added some colour! Then I tried different colour palettes and different simulations.
Key takeaways?
- Don’t be afraid to start small. Pick a manageable project and build from there.
- Documentation is your friend. Read it, understand it, and refer to it often.
- Debugging is a skill. Learn to love it (or at least tolerate it).
- There are a TON of online resources that will help you
- Be patient. It takes time to learn new things. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results immediately.
All in all, diving into “evan fitterer” was a challenging but rewarding experience. I learned a ton about data visualization, generative art, and the importance of perseverance. Would I do it again? Absolutely! It was an experience I won’t regret!
