this is freaky. i ordered the book and recieved it yesterday.

http://www.amazon.com/Processing-Programming-Handbook-Designers-Artists/dp/0262182629/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222426009&sr=8-1

havent looked at it much yet, but i think your class should be interesting, im interested in how it diagrams information visually, a contemporary tool building on Tufte's work sort of thing.

good luck

also, visit www.visualcomplexity.com, many of the programs there have been developed in processing

Processing language is super easy to learn - that's a bit the idea of the software. If you don't like coding, the modular interface VVVV is a very interesting alternative.

Hopefully they also teach general computer science concepts, not just the language.

also - don't get too frustrated if you aren't creating some brilliant program that changes the world within the first month - it takes a couple years to get comfortable with coding. you'll be hacking code (starting with another program and altering it for your use) for a while until you start to truly understand the language and write your own programs.

processing is great, relatively easy to learn - and I think you'll have a lot of fun.

and be thankful that you didn't have to start out in a lower-level language like I did...

Thanks TO, and all,... very helpful comments

ff33 - keep us posted your progress!

how was ur class?