/** * The Koch snowflake is a fractal curve and one of the earliest fractals to have been described. * The Koch snowflake can be built up iteratively, in a sequence of stages. The first stage is an * equilateral triangle, and each successive stage is formed by adding outward bends to each side of * the previous stage, making smaller equilateral triangles. This can be achieved through the * following steps for each line: 1. divide the line segment into three segments of equal length. 2. * draw an equilateral triangle that has the middle segment from step 1 as its base and points * outward. 3. remove the line segment that is the base of the triangle from step 2. (description * adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_snowflake ) (for a more detailed explanation and * an implementation in the Processing language, see * https://natureofcode.com/book/chapter-8-fractals/ #84-the-koch-curve-and-the-arraylist-technique * ). */ /* Doctests Test iterate-method > iterate([new Vector2(0, 0), new Vector2(1, 0)], 1)[0]; {"x": 0, "y": 0} > iterate([new Vector2(0, 0), new Vector2(1, 0)], 1)[1]; {"x": 1/3, "y": 0} > iterate([new Vector2(0, 0), new Vector2(1, 0)], 1)[2]; {"x": 1/2, "y": Math.sin(Math.PI / 3) / 3} > iterate([new Vector2(0, 0), new Vector2(1, 0)], 1)[3]; {"x": 2/3, "y": 0} > iterate([new Vector2(0, 0), new Vector2(1, 0)], 1)[4]; {"x": 1, "y": 0} */ /** Class to handle the vector calculations. */ class Vector2 { constructor (x, y) { this.x = x this.y = y } /** * Vector addition * * @param vector The vector to be added. * @returns The sum-vector. */ add (vector) { const x = this.x + vector.x const y = this.y + vector.y return new Vector2(x, y) } /** * Vector subtraction * * @param vector The vector to be subtracted. * @returns The difference-vector. */ subtract (vector) { const x = this.x - vector.x const y = this.y - vector.y return new Vector2(x, y) } /** * Vector scalar multiplication * * @param scalar The factor by which to multiply the vector. * @returns The scaled vector. */ multiply (scalar) { const x = this.x * scalar const y = this.y * scalar return new Vector2(x, y) } /** * Vector rotation (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix) * * @param angleInDegrees The angle by which to rotate the vector. * @returns The rotated vector. */ rotate (angleInDegrees) { const radians = angleInDegrees * Math.PI / 180 const ca = Math.cos(radians) const sa = Math.sin(radians) const x = ca * this.x - sa * this.y const y = sa * this.x + ca * this.y return new Vector2(x, y) } } /** * Method to render the Koch snowflake to a canvas. * * @param canvasWidth The width of the canvas. * @param steps The number of iterations. * @returns The canvas of the rendered Koch snowflake. */ function getKochSnowflake (canvasWidth = 600, steps = 5) { if (canvasWidth <= 0) { throw new Error('canvasWidth should be greater than zero') } const offsetX = canvasWidth / 10.0 const offsetY = canvasWidth / 3.7 const vector1 = new Vector2(offsetX, offsetY) const vector2 = new Vector2(canvasWidth / 2, Math.sin(Math.PI / 3) * canvasWidth * 0.8 + offsetY) const vector3 = new Vector2(canvasWidth - offsetX, offsetY) const initialVectors = [] initialVectors.push(vector1) initialVectors.push(vector2) initialVectors.push(vector3) initialVectors.push(vector1) const vectors = iterate(initialVectors, steps) return drawToCanvas(vectors, canvasWidth, canvasWidth) } /** * Utility-method to render the Koch snowflake to a canvas. * * @param vectors The vectors defining the edges to be rendered. * @param canvasWidth The width of the canvas. * @param canvasHeight The height of the canvas. * @returns The canvas of the rendered edges. */ function drawToCanvas (vectors, canvasWidth, canvasHeight) { const canvas = document.createElement('canvas') canvas.width = canvasWidth canvas.height = canvasHeight // Draw the edges const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d') ctx.beginPath() ctx.moveTo(vectors[0].x, vectors[0].y) for (let i = 1; i < vectors.length; i++) { ctx.lineTo(vectors[i].x, vectors[i].y) } ctx.stroke() return canvas } /** * Go through the number of iterations determined by the argument "steps". Be careful with high * values (above 5) since the time to calculate increases exponentially. * * @param initialVectors The vectors composing the shape to which the algorithm is applied. * @param steps The number of iterations. * @returns The transformed vectors after the iteration-steps. */ function iterate (initialVectors, steps) { let vectors = initialVectors for (let i = 0; i < steps; i++) { vectors = iterationStep(vectors) } return vectors } /** * Loops through each pair of adjacent vectors. Each line between two adjacent vectors is divided * into 4 segments by adding 3 additional vectors in-between the original two vectors. The vector * in the middle is constructed through a 60 degree rotation so it is bent outwards. * * @param vectors The vectors composing the shape to which the algorithm is applied. * @returns The transformed vectors after the iteration-step. */ function iterationStep (vectors) { const newVectors = [] for (let i = 0; i < vectors.length - 1; i++) { const startVector = vectors[i] const endVector = vectors[i + 1] newVectors.push(startVector) const differenceVector = endVector.subtract(startVector).multiply(1 / 3) newVectors.push(startVector.add(differenceVector)) newVectors.push(startVector.add(differenceVector).add(differenceVector.rotate(60))) newVectors.push(startVector.add(differenceVector.multiply(2))) } newVectors.push(vectors[vectors.length - 1]) return newVectors } // plot the results if the script is executed in a browser with a window-object if (typeof window !== 'undefined') { const canvas = getKochSnowflake() document.body.append(canvas) }