Gestalten In Code - Learning the Basics of Programming with AI

Now more than ever it is important to learn programming and even more to be able to read code. But how can we learn the basics of creative coding in times where an agent can do our bidding and spit out highly detailed, surreal, (dull) art pieces that earn internet coins on {ENTER ATTENTION MACHINE HERE}?

• Is there still room for handcrafted code? (Spoiler: yes)
• How can we incorporate large language models into this learning path but still do the heavy lifting to form memory muscles?
• How can we learn programming without the distracting complexity of modern software development?

In this workshop Fabian Morón Zirfas (that's me) will try to guide you through the basics of programming with the help of a specifically for this purpose designed programming language and AI.

giclang (Gestalten In Code Language).

giclang is a C-style language and toolkit with a small set of programming concepts based on creative coding frameworks like Design by Numbers, Processing and P5.js. This reduced complexity gives the room to discuss and learn programming paradigms rather than struggling with build systems and integration into modern workflows.

The language is designed to still allow the transfer to more complex languages like JavaScript, Arduino, Processing, Java, Python, Go, C++, et al. and of course C after the workshop.

The workshop will be held in German or English depending on the attendees. All the materials will be in English.

About You

1. You don't need any programming experience we will start at the basics.
2. You will nee your own computer.
3. You will need some kind of generative AI coding subscription like https://opencode.ai/go or Anthropics https://claude.ai or OpenAIs Codex https://chatgpt.com/pricing/

About Fabian Morón Zirfas

Fabian has been working with Processing and its successor since 2007 and started professionally teaching designers in creative coding and physical computing in 2013. He taught at several institutions and in various occasions until 2024. He was involved in the development of Basil.js a creative coding toolkit for Adobe InDesign and also created many resources for steering Adobe applications like After Effects or InDesign with code. Besides that he worked as creative technologist at IXDS and Technologiestiftung Berlin/CityLAB Berlin. Currently he is enrolled in the speculative software master program at University of Applied Science Potsdam.

This workshop is research artifact of his Master thesis (so there might be dragons and some evaluation at the end).