ritacosta93 / gameoflife

Explore the fascinating world of cellular automata with this Conway's Game of Life simulation!

Game of Life Simulation

This project is a simulation of Conway's Game of Life, a cellular automaton devised by mathematician John Conway. The simulation allows you to observe the evolution of a grid of cells based on simple rules.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started
2. How to Play
3. Customization
   • Generations.js
   • Grid.js
   • GridDrawer.js
   • Rules.js
4. Rules

Getting Started

To run the simulation, open the index.html file in your web browser. This will render a grid on the canvas, and the cells will evolve according to predefined rules.

How to Play

Start the Simulation: The simulation starts automatically when you open the index.html file. You can observe the generations evolving on the grid.

Customization

Generations.js

Purpose: The Generations class is responsible for managing the simulation of generations in Conway's Game of Life.

Attributes:

• rows, columns, cellSize: Dimensions and size of each cell in the grid.
• numGenerations: Number of generations to run in each iteration.
• gridGenerator: An instance of the Grid class responsible for generating the initial grid.
• currentGrid: Represents the current state of the grid.
• gridDrawer: An instance of the GridDrawer class responsible for rendering the grid on the canvas.

Methods:

• runGenerations(): Initiates the simulation loop, updating and rendering the grid for each generation.
• sleep(ms): A utility function to introduce a delay between generations.
• isGridEmpty(grid): Checks if all cells in the grid are empty.
• isEveryoneAlive(grid): Checks if all cells in the grid are alive.

Grid.js

Purpose: The Grid class is responsible for generating the initial state of the grid.

Attributes:

• rows and columns: Dimensions of the grid.
• grid: Represents the 2D array that holds the state of each cell in the grid.

Methods:

• generateRandomGrid(): Generates a random initial state for the grid.
• printGrid(): Logs the current state of the grid to the console.

GridDrawer.js

Purpose: The GridDrawer class handles the rendering of the grid on the canvas.

Attributes:

• rows, columns, and cellSize: Dimensions and size of each cell in the grid.
• canvas: The HTML canvas element.
• context: The canvas rendering context.

Methods:

• drawGrid(grid, foodLocations): Renders the grid on the canvas, considering the state of each cell and optional food locations.
• getCellColor(cellValue): Determines the color of a cell based on its value.
• drawFoodSquares(foodLocations): Draws food squares on the canvas.

Rules.js

Purpose: The Rules class contains the logic for applying the rules of Conway's Game of Life.

Methods:

• applyRules(currentGrid, food): Applies the rules to determine the next state of each cell in the grid.
• countLiveNeighbors(grid, row, col): Counts the number of live neighbors for a given cell.
• getLastActiveTime(cellValue): Retrieves the last active time for a live cell.
• isInactive(lastActiveTime, currentTime): Checks if a live cell is inactive for a specified period.

Rules

The rules of Conway's Game of Life are as follows:

1. Underpopulation: Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbors dies.
2. Survival: Any live cell with two or three live neighbors survives.
3. Overpopulation: Any live cell with more than three live neighbors dies.
4. Reproduction: Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbors becomes a live cell.

Additionally, cells can become inactive if they remain unchanged for a specified period.