A curated list of livecoding languages and tools
This list was created with the intention of giving a quick-glance over the many possibilities to engage in this practice. For further information, head over to TOPLAP.
Table of Contents
Quoting Wikipedia
Live coding (sometimes referred to as 'on-the-fly programming', 'just in time programming' and 'conversational programming') is a performing arts form and a creativity technique centred upon the writing of source code and the use of interactive programming in an improvised way.
- TOPLAP, the home of Live Coding
(In Alphabetical Order)
- afterglow, a live-coding lighting controller, building on the Open Lighting Architecture with Clojure and bits of Overtone
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
lisp
FLOSS
- Alda, a music programming language for musicians.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
FLOSS
- ChucK, Strongly-timed, Concurrent, and On-the-fly Music Programming Language.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
FLOSS
- Conductive, a set of Haskell libraries for livecoding and real-time music applications.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
haskell
Supercollider
FLOSS
- Cyril, a programming language designed for fast prototyping of visualisations and livecoding visuals.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
openFrameworks
FLOSS
- Extempore, a programming language and runtime environment designed to support 'cyberphysical programming'.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
lisp
FLOSS
- Fluxus, a rapid prototyping, playing and learning environment for 3D graphics, sound and games.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux | Android | PS2
racket-lang
lisp
FLOSS
- FoxDot, Live Coding with Python and SuperCollider.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
Python
Supercollider
FLOSS
- Gibber, creative coding for JavaScript.
Google Chrome | Mozilla Firefox
web
JavaScript
FLOSS
- Impromptu, an OSX programming language and environment for composers, sound artists, VJ's and graphic artists with an interest in live or interactive programming.
OS X
lisp
Closed source
- ixi lang, an experimental project concerned with the creation of digital musical instruments and environments for generative music.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
Supercollider
- i-score, an interactive sequencer that allows live programming of OSC-enabled applications, through a visual language and JavaScript scripting.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
C++
FLOSS
- LiveCodeLab, a web-based language and environment for VJs, musicians and graphic artists. Allows for immediate and engaging run-as-you-type prototyping, also used in education.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
web
FLOSS
- Max, a visual programming language for media.
Windows | OS X
graphical-language
Commercial
- Moonlet, Lua live coding
Windows | GNU/Linux
- Overtone, an open source audio environment designed to explore new musical ideas from synthesis and sampling to instrument building, live-coding and collaborative jamming.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
Supercollider
lisp
FLOSS
- PraxisLive, hybrid visual IDE for live creative coding
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
Java
Processing
GLSL
graphical-language
FLOSS
- Pure Data, an open source visual programming language that can be used to process and generate sound, video, 2D/3D graphics, and interface sensors, input devices, and MIDI.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
graphical-language
FLOSS
- re<urse, a language for generating musical patterns.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
TypeScript
FLOSS
- Sonic Pi, the Live Coding music synth for everyone.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
Ruby
Supercollider
FLOSS
- SuperCollider, a platform for audio synthesis and algorithmic composition, used by musicians, artists, and researchers working with sound.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
FLOSS
- synth-x, an experimental live coding environment for making music created with modern web technologies
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
JavaScript
nodejs
- TidalCycles, is a language for Live Coding pattern.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linxux
Haskell
Supercollider
FLOSS
- Vivid, Haskell synth live coding
Haskell
Supercollider
- vvvv, a hybrid visual/textual live-programming environment for easy prototyping and development.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
visual-language
Freeware | Commercial
- Wulfcode, a Midi live-coding environment for performance or composition
OS X | Windows* | GNU/Linux*
FLOSS
- xi, a domain-specific language for Live Coding musical patterns in Ruby.
Windows | OS X | GNU/Linux
Ruby
Supercollider
FLOSS
(Also in Alphabetical Order)
- Arcadia, live coding Clojure in Unity3D
- CHmUsiCK, library to make chucK a 'more algorave like' language
- dafxpipe, software for live coding audio effects and synths
- disclojure, a live coding environment for Overtone and Leipzig.
- EspGrid, synchronization and sharing for network music
- Extramuros, language-neutral shared-buffer networked live coding system
- The Force, webGL live coding performance IDE
- Gibberwocky, use Gibber inside Max/MSP and Max4Live
- glslViewer, Live GLSL coding render for MacOS and Linux
- HYLOGEN, an embedding of GLSL in Haskell
- isobar, a Python library for algorithmic composition by expressing and constructing musical patterns
- KodeLife, Real-time GPU shader editor, live-code performance tool and graphics prototyping sketchpad
- LÖVELive, 💕 Live coding framework for LÖVE(2D Game Engine)
- pytebeat, a piece of software for doing livecoding bytebeat performances
- p5-live, Live Coding for p5.js
- REPL Mode, this mode adds in a Read-Evaluate-Print-Loop console to Processing 3.0
- s2hs2, an interface between TidalCycles and Processing
- sonic-pixels, interactive lighting effects for Sonic Pi
- tidal-autocode, auto-generates patterns for TidalCycles (requires Atom editor)
- tidal-chord, an add-on to the amazing live coding project TidalCycles
- TidalUnity, an interface between TidalCycles and Unity 3D
- Tidal-Unity, TidalCycles meets Unity 3D
- tida1vm, another TidalCycles environment inside Docker
- tidebox, TidalCycles live coding environment inside a Docker container
- Troop, real-time collaborative live coding with FoxDot
- WavTexture, a Unity example showing how to bake a waveform of an audio clip into a texture and use it in a shader
- Live coding for Algoraving, Shelly Knotts+Joanne Armitage / workshop supported by YSWN + LCRN
- Arte Tracks - Live coding and Algorave
- Programming as Performance, Sam Aaron
- THIS is computer music, Ge Wang
- Programming in Time - Live Coding for creative performances, Andrew Sorensen
- ComputerMusic(now), Andrew Sorensen
- Show Us Your Screens, a Documentary about live coding practise by Louis McCallum and Davy Smith
- Algorithms are Thoughts, Chainsaws are Tools, a short film on livecoding presented as part of the Critical Code Studies Working Group, March 2010, by Stephen Ramsay
- ICLC Youtube Channel, International Conference on Live Coding
- TidalCycles Youtube Channel, Official channel of the TidalCycles collective
- SuperCollider Tutorials, a video series by Eli Fieldsteel
- Hacking Choreography, a live coded dance performance
- Manifesto (draft), Obscurantism is dangerous. Show us your screens
- Origins of Live Coding, Nick Collins - Durham University
- Herding Cats: Observing Live Coding in the Wild, Thor Magnusson - Department of Music - University of Sussex
- Algorave: the live coding movement that makes next-level electronic music, MixMag magazine article about live coding (2017)
- Real DJs Code Live, Wired magazine article about live coding (2006)
- Alex McLean's publications, Conference papers, book chapters and journal articles
- Live Coding Mailing List Archive, a piece of history
- TOPLAP Wiki, videos, articles, and papers
- Algorave, embrace the alien sounds of raves from the past, and introduce alien, futuristic rhythms and beats made through strange, algorithm-aided processes
- Eulerroom, algorithmic music streams, mainly live coded and/or algorave but possibly also stranger things
- ICLC, International Conference on Live Coding
- LiveCode Slack, enter your email address and you're ready to go!
chat
- LURK, a host for discussions around cultural freedom, experimental, new media art, net and computational culture, and things like that
Mailing List
- POTAC, Programing of The Art Computer,
Weblog
- /r/livecoding, the Live Coding subreddit
- Awesome Creative Coding, 🎨 Creative Coding, Generative Art, Interaction Design, Resources
- Awesome Audio visualization, a curated list about Audio Visualization
- Awesome Music, a categorized collection of awesome music libraries, tools, frameworks and software.
- Awesome Live Coding Music, a curated list of awesome Music Live Coding Music environments, libraries and talks
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
To the extent possible under law, Mauro Lizaur has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.