Awesome Creative Coding

A curated, open-source directory of resources for creative coding—focusing on expression, art, interaction, and generative visuals rather than purely functional software.

Website: https://github.com/terkelg/awesome-creative-coding#readme

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Overview

Awesome Creative Coding is a carefully curated list of tools, learning materials, and inspiration for people interested in:

• Generative art
• Interaction design
• Information/data visualization
• Artworks articulated as code

It is aimed primarily at beginner and intermediate creative coders.

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Features

Scope & Audience

• Focus on creative coding as an expressive practice rather than traditional systems programming.
• Targets beginners and intermediates looking for structured entry points into creative coding.
• Emphasizes practical resources: tools, tutorials, communities, and inspiration.

Resource Categories

Books

• Curated list of printed books relevant to creative coding, generative art, visualization, and related topics.

Online Books

• Free or web-based books and long-form guides that can be read online.

Courses

• Courses and structured learning paths for creative coding (e.g., generative art, visualization, interaction design).

Tools

• A broad catalog of software and environments for making creative work with code, organized into subcategories:
  • Frameworks • Libraries • Ecosystems – Coding libraries and frameworks for graphics, animation, and creative experiments.
  • Visual Programming Languages – Node-based / patch-based environments for visual and interactive work.
  • Sound Programming Languages – Tools and languages focused on audio, sound art, and music with code.
  • Web Programming • Libraries – JavaScript and web-focused tools for browser-based creative coding.
  • Projection Mapping • VJing – Software for live visuals, performance, and projection.
  • Online – Browser-based tools and platforms for experimenting without local installation.
  • Hardware – Microcontrollers, physical computing platforms, and hardware-focused tools.
  • Other – Miscellaneous utilities and tools that support creative coding workflows.

Learning Resources

• Videos – Video tutorials, recorded lectures, and walkthroughs.
• Talks – Conference talks, presentations, and lectures by artists and developers.
• Articles • Tutorials – Written guides and deep dives, further organized into:
  • Shaders • OpenGL • WebGL
  • Canvas
  • Hardware
  • Other
• Interactive – Hands-on, interactive learning tools and playgrounds.
• Quick References • Cheat Sheets – Condensed reference material for common tools and concepts.

Communities

• Subreddits – Reddit communities related to creative coding.
• Slack – Slack groups and chat communities.
• Other – Additional community platforms and forums.

Math

• Mathematical resources particularly useful for generative art, graphics, and visual algorithms.

Machine Learning • Computer Vision • AI

• Tools and learning materials for combining creative coding with ML, CV, and AI techniques.

Inspiration & Culture

• Inspiration – Collections of exemplary works, showcases, and idea sources.
• Events – Conferences, meetups, and festivals relevant to creative coders.
• Museums • Galleries – Institutions and spaces showing code-based or digital art.
• Schools • Workshops – Educational programs, workshops, and schools focusing on creative technology and digital art.
• Blogs • Websites – Ongoing publications and sites covering creative coding and related art/tech topics.

Related Lists & Resources

• Related – Other awesome lists or curated resources that intersect with creative coding.

Open-Source & Licensing

• Hosted on GitHub as an open, collaborative repository.
• Contribution guidelines provided for community submissions.
• Licensed under CC0 (public domain dedication), allowing free reuse and adaptation of the list.

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Pricing

• Completely free to access and use.
• Open-source, community-maintained resource with no paid tiers or plans.