The circle-drawing experiment

✅ 1. Prepare the code

You need the .py file or the text in a .txt file.

# A simple example of reading the code
with open("your_code.py", "r") as f:
    lines = f.readlines()

✅ 2. Analyse the code to extract its structure

You can use regular expressions or Python's tokenize module to detect def, if, for, return, etc.

import tokenize
from io import BytesIO

code = ''.join(lines)
tokens = list(tokenize.tokenize(BytesIO(code.encode('utf-8')).readline))

Assign a “weight” or “type” to each line based on its token type:

• def, class = main node
• if, else, elif, for, while = condition
• return, yield = exit
• # or docstring = comment
• others = instructions

✅ 3. Generate shapes or colours from that analysis

You can map each line to a visual object: for example, a circle whose radius depends on the line's length and whose colour depends on the instruction type.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import random

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(20, 20))
ax.set_facecolor("black")
ax.axis("off")

y = 0
for i, line in enumerate(lines):
    length = len(line.strip())
    radius = length * 0.1
    colour = plt.cm.viridis(random.random())

    ax.add_patch(plt.Circle((random.uniform(0, 100), y), radius, color=colour, alpha=0.6))
    y += 1.5

plt.savefig("code_poster.png", dpi=300, bbox_inches="tight")

This is a simple example. You can adapt it to use:

• Colours by token type.
• Shapes that connect to one another, such as lines and curves.
• Symmetrical patterns.

✅ 4. Adjust the artistic style

Explore these options:

• Replace plt.Circle with plt.Rectangle, plt.Polygon, etc.
• Use libraries such as:
  • turtle for a more minimal, hand-drawn style.
  • p5, the Python port of p5.js.
  • cairo or svgwrite for exportable vectors.
• Export to .svg or .pdf for high-quality printing.