I'm planning to create a project based on Conway's Game of Life, which is a grid-based concept where you can select cells at the beginning and then run simulations to see how cells are created or die based on their positions. I want to make sure I'm on the right track. Should I use a matrix for this? Also, if anyone has recommendations for good modules or tutorials related to this, I would really appreciate it! My concern is whether I should treat each cell as a separate instance. I fear that if I have 400 instances per turn, it might overwhelm my computer. Any advice would be helpful!
1 Answer
If you're using Python, I recommend leveraging NumPy's 2D ndarray for managing the board state. For displaying it, you can use Matplotlib's imshow. This approach makes it visually easy to test the basic functionality. Just remember, if you're looping over cells to update your board during generational changes, use two separate states for the current and next generations. Avoid modifying the original array directly while iterating, as that can lead to some serious inconsistencies.
Absolutely agree on using two separate board states! It's crucial to get this right; many tutorials gloss over it. I struggled with my own code for ages until I figured out I was modifying the original matrix instead of creating a fresh one for each generation.