Turtle Fractals and Spirolaterals: Effective Assignments for Novice Graphics Programmers

Abstract

This paper presents an effective assignment in the shape of a computer graphics application from an introductory computing course with a graphics programming flavour. The assignment involves basic 2D computer graphics used in combination with fundamental algorithmic elements to create a simple drawing application. Students are first asked to create a data structure and appropriate functions replicating the operations of a Turtle graphics system and then to use this turtle for drawing either fractals or spirolateral curves.