Daniel Shiffman
Born 1973 · Age 52
Computer programmer, educator, author and creator of The Coding Train; Associate Arts Professor at NYU ITP and board member / co-founder of the Processing Foundation. Author of Learning Processing and The Nature of Code; creator of tutorials and libraries for Processing and p5.js (including ml5.js).
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Life & Career Timeline
BA in Mathematics and Philosophy from Yale University (estimated)
Completed undergraduate studies at Yale University (BA in Mathematics & Philosophy). Exact graduation year not specified; estimated mid-1990s.
Co-founded P73 Productions Inc. (theatre company, producing director)
Started P73 Productions Inc., a small New York theatre company with friends from Yale; served as producing director prior to focusing on open source and visual art.
Press mention in New York Times (theatre coverage)
Referenced in New York Times article (1998) related to theatrical activities (P73 involvement referenced in his biography).
Created artwork 'Swarm #1' (algorithmic artwork)
Early artwork exploring virtual flocking based on Reynolds's Boids model; used live video input to produce painterly real-time effects.
Created artwork 'Swarm #2'
Second of his early Swarm algorithm artworks exploring virtual flocking and painterly rendering.
Featured in New York Times art/technology coverage
Work discussed in NYT article 'What if Jackson Pollock were a PC?' (press coverage of algorithmic/painterly works).
Master's degree from NYU ITP (estimated)
Daniel Shiffman holds a master's degree from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). Exact year not stated in sources; estimated early 2000s prior to joining faculty.
Began teaching at NYU ITP (start of academic career)
Started teaching at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP); subsequently became an Associate Arts Professor.
Presented 'Reactive' at ACM SIGGRAPH 2004 Emerging Technologies
Paper/installation 'Reactive' published/presented in SIGGRAPH 2004 Emerging Technologies.
Presented 'Swarm' at ACM SIGGRAPH 2004 Emerging Technologies
Paper/installation 'Swarm' published/presented in SIGGRAPH 2004 Emerging Technologies (DOI recorded in SIGGRAPH proceedings).
Press coverage in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Art/technology work mentioned in press (Atlanta Journal-Constitution coverage, 2006).
Published 'Learning Processing' (1st edition)
Learning Processing: A Beginner's Guide to Programming Images, Animation, and Interaction — first edition published (ISBN listed on sources).
Self-published 'The Nature of Code' (Kickstarter-backed project)
Self-published The Nature of Code: Simulating Natural Systems with Processing; book began as / was funded via a Kickstarter campaign and was released as an open resource.
Released Nature of Code via the 'Magic Book Project' workflow
Collaborated on a build workflow (Magic Book Project) to publish the Nature of Code both online and as print-on-demand; made examples available online.
Co-founded / Early leader in Processing Foundation (approx.)
Daniel is a co-founder and/or early core organizer behind the Processing Foundation and later served on its Board of Directors. (Foundation formation date not precisely specified in sources.)
Published 'Learning Processing' 2nd edition
Second edition of Learning Processing released (updated edition, 2015).
Processing / Coding Rainbow / Coding Train coverage in The Next Web
The Next Web published an article (Sept 2016) praising Coding Rainbow (Shiffman's tutorial/education work).
Visiting artist / educator at School for Poetic Computation (SFPC)
Served as SFPC Visitor (Summer 2016 and Fall 2016) — taught / participated in SFPC programs.
Started / led the ml5.js project (approx.; Google Faculty Research Award seed)
ml5.js — a beginner-friendly JS wrapper around TensorFlow.js — began as a project seeded by a Google Faculty Research Award and grew into a library for creative ML examples for p5.js users.
Guest on Hanselminutes podcast (interview)
Appeared on Scott Hanselman's 'Hanselminutes' podcast (episode #584) discussing Processing, The Coding Train, and teaching (June 16, 2017).
Launched The Coding Train YouTube tutorials at scale (channel growth milestone; approximate founding earlier)
Coding Train channel became a long-running weekly creative-coding tutorial resource teaching Processing, p5.js, algorithms, data viz, computer vision and machine learning. (Channel existed earlier; 2018 marks major growth phase.)
Processing Community Day Worldwide — 100+ registered node cities (involvement)
Processing Community Day Worldwide reached 100+ registered node cities in 2019; Shiffman was actively involved in the Processing community and outreach.
ml5.js tutorial video series (11 videos as of interview)
Released a series of tutorial videos teaching concepts behind machine learning using the ml5.js library; 11 videos had been published at time of interview.
createCanvas interview (Processing Foundation podcast) — Part 2
Featured in createCanvas interview discussing education, Processing Foundation work, The Coding Train, ml5, and sustainability models for open source (published Nov 15, 2019).
Moved primary video publishing to YouTube from Vimeo (approx.)
Shifted code tutorial publishing strategy toward YouTube to reach larger audiences and to take advantage of live streaming and ad-revenue / monetization opportunities (discussed in interviews).
Nebula Classes appearance: 'What is Code?'
Appeared in Nebula Classes episode 'What is Code?' (IMDB entry listing, 2022).
Worked with alumni to rebuild / modernize 'The Nature of Code' website and toolchain
Collaborated with ITP alumni (Jason Gal, Tuan Huang) to retool the Magic Book Project pipeline (migrated to Node.js), redesigned the website and prepared updated interactive p5 examples for a major new edition.
Published 'The Nature of Code' p5.js / JavaScript edition (No Starch Press / updated)
A major overhauled edition of The Nature of Code — updated for p5.js / JavaScript and modern examples — published (listed in sources as 2024 edition with ISBN).
Book launch party / public events for 'The Nature of Code' (Wonderville event)
Held a book release event including live coding performances and recordings archived online (book launch party referenced in interviews / blog posts).
Reached 'millions' of viewers on The Coding Train (ongoing milestone)
The Coding Train YouTube channel and associated materials have reached an international audience of millions (channel / playlists referenced as reaching millions of people).
Ongoing: Member of the Board of Directors, Processing Foundation (current role)
Serves on the Processing Foundation Board of Directors and continues to develop educational materials and open-source libraries (p5, ml5 and more).
Continued teaching and course development at NYU ITP (ongoing)
Active Associate Arts Professor at NYU ITP teaching courses such as 'Creative JavaScript', 'Nature of Code', 'Introduction to Computational Media' and more; continuously produces tutorials for the public.
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