The State of Processing: How We’re Bringing a Creative Coding Icon Back to Life—talk
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Abstract
Processing is one of the most widely used open-source tools for creative coding and CS education. Since it was first released in 2001, it has been instrumental in teaching coding to students, artists, and designers worldwide, serving as a gateway into programming for people who might never have touched code otherwise.
A remarkable thing about Processing is the consistency of its API. Most Processing code written twenty years ago still runs in Processing today with only minor changes. That kind of longevity is rare in software and speaks to the project’s thoughtful design.
But behind the scenes, the project has been struggling.
For a long time, Processing relied on a small, dedicated core team. As contributors moved on, fewer people remained who understood the full complexity of the codebase. Maintenance became harder. Key libraries stopped working. By the time Processing 4 was released, the project was already in a difficult place.
In 2021, a major fundraiser for Processing’s 20th anniversary brought unprecedented financial support, but it also sparked difficult conversations about the project’s future. In 2023, Processing’s historical maintainer, Ben Fry, cut ties with the project, and with no clear direction, development stalled for over a year. Many assumed Processing was dead.
It is not.
That same support that brought uncertainty also made recovery possible. Over the past year, a small group of contributors, with support from the Processing Foundation, has restarted development, modernized infrastructure, and begun the slow, difficult work of making Processing a sustainable open-source project again.
Processing will turn 25 in 2026, and we’re working to make it last for another 25 years!
This talk is an honest look at what it takes to keep a beloved open-source project alive, the progress we’ve made, and why the community’s role in its future is more critical than ever.