3.1. Algorithms and Data Types

Algorithms and Data Types in Grasshopper

Structure of an Algorithm

An algorithm are series of intructions that are followed, in steps, to solve a problem.

Example in Grasshopper:

Common Data Types

In Computer Science and Computer Programming, a Data Type or simply Type is an attribute of data which tells the compiler or interpreter how the programmer intends to use the data.

The most commonly used Data Types in Grasshopper are:

Strings
Numbers
Booleans

String

A string represent text.

The word “robot” and the phrase “Hello world” are both strings. Even “12345” could be considered a string (under quotation marks).

Numbers

The most commonly used number Data Types in Grasshopper are:

Integers
Float

Integers

Are whole numbers that range from -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647 (up to 10 digits of precision):

Floats

Represent values as high-precision fractional values:

Booleans

Booleans can represent only two different values:

True (1)
False (0).

Geometry Data Types

Some of the most common geometry Data Types are points and lines, but you can also find circles, planes, boxes…etc:

Point

Line

Circle

Plane

Contains a collection of 3D axis-systems, in this case an origin and a Z vector:

etc…

Computer Graphics Types

The computer graphics contains two main types:

Raster (Bitmap) graphics
Vector graphics