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👻 Henry’s Pythonic Ghost

A novice coder, Python 3, the Python Processing IDE — and a little AI magic.

About This Animation — Henry’s Story
✨ Novice Creation

Henry is a beginning programmer who used Python 3 inside the Python Processing IDE to create the interactive ghost animation you see here. He came to the project with a basic knowledge of Python — variables, functions, loops, and dictionaries — and partnered with an AI agent to bring his vision to life.

The result is genuinely impressive for a first sketch: each ghost floats with a sinusoidal bob, has eyes that track the mouse cursor, a wavy hem that ripples each frame, and a randomized blinking system. Ghosts can be clicked to select them, then moved around the canvas with the WASD keys. Clicking empty space spawns a new ghost. A twinkling star field provides the spooky atmosphere.

This is Python Processing — the same creative coding environment as p5.js, but written entirely in Python. Henry wrote his sketch in a file called henryGhost.py and ran it directly in the Python Processing IDE, with no HTML, no JavaScript, and no browser involved.

The bigger picture: Henry’s ghost is the seed of a development saga. See the “What’s Next” section below for where this project is headed.

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Recorded 2026-09-22  •  Python Processing IDE  •  Henry

Henry’s Source Code — henryGhost.py

The complete Python 3 sketch as written in the Python Processing IDE. Copy it into your own Python Processing environment and run it — it works as-is.

    Python 3 · Python Processing IDE · ~270 lines · By Henry
    How to run this sketch: Click Copy above, open the Python Processing IDE, paste the code into a new sketch, and press Run. No imports or additional setup needed — Processing’s drawing functions (size(), draw(), fill(), etc.) are available automatically in the Python Processing environment.

    What’s Next — The Ghost Saga

    Henry’s ghost is the starting point for an ongoing development saga. The plan is to take this basic working sketch through a series of planned improvements that mirror how professional software evolves — and teach powerful CS concepts along the way:

    • Stage 1 (Complete): Working Python Processing sketch — procedural, dictionary-based, interactive.
    • Stage 2: Introduce a Ghost class in Python Processing. Replace the dictionaries with a proper object that has attributes and methods. This is the OOP upgrade.
    • Stage 3: Port the sketch to JavaScript + p5.js. The same ghost, the same behavior — but now running in a browser, in JavaScript, using a Ghost class.
    • Stage 4: Leverage the PyWaveTNT library — use PWColor and PWSinusoid classes to upgrade the color handling and the sinusoidal floating animation, replacing the raw HSB values and manual math with library calls.
    • Stage 5: Apply the SketchWave JS library to the p5.js version the same way — SWColor, SWSinusoid — and compare the two parallel implementations side by side as a TNT Cross Training concept page.

    This project will be chronicled in a S.P.A.R.K. Chat Log as the saga progresses.