Calculating the gravity of the gravitational force or 0.00000000000667

Gravity is by far the best force in the universe. Despite being the weakest of the “main” four (strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, gravity). It is the one that dominates given enough time and distances. All this even though it falls of inversely to the square of the distance, meaning, if you double the separation between the two objects you quarter the force, or if you cut the separation in half you quadruple the force of attraction.

It’s also one of my favorite things when creating visualizations, because things move so beautifully when you simply let gravity take over.

So I thought I would give it it’s own tiny blog post, in honor of its value 0.00000000000667

    // Compute the net force acting between the invoking body a and b, and
    // add to the net force acting on the invoking Body
    public void addForce(Body b) {
        Body a = this;
        double G = 0.00000000000667;
        double EPS = 0.0001;      // softening parameter
        double dx = b.rx - a.rx;
        double dy = b.ry - a.ry;
        double dist = Math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy);
        double F = (G * a.mass * b.mass) / (dist*dist + EPS*EPS);
        a.fx += F * dx / dist;
        a.fy += F * dy / dist;
    }

Load JSON from file/URL in Swift 3

Simple snippet to load JSON into from a filepath or URL

// Retrieves JSON from bundle
  private func loadJSON(fileURL:URL)->[String : Any]? {
    // Parse the JSON
    do {
      // Create a string out of the file contents
      let contents = try String(contentsOf: fileURL) // use contentsOfFile for strings
      // Turn it into data to feed JSONSerialization class
      let data     = contents.data(using: String.Encoding.utf8)
      // Attempt to turn it into JSON, or show error
      let json:[String:Any]? = try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data!, options: []) as! [String : Any]
 
      return json
 
    } catch {
      Swift.print("Error parsing json")
      return nil
    }
  }

Concisely animating a local T value along a path

If you have a T value, in the range of [0.0-1.0] you can convert that to a local T value for each part of that curve.

    var rangePerItem = 1.0 / items.length;
    var t = 0.73;
 
    for(var i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
        // determine which piece of the line this item falls into
        var a          = i * rangePerItem;
        var b          = (i + 1) * rangePerItem;
 
        // normalize the value so that 0.51 on the third one becomes 1.0 for the first and second, and 0.2 for the third, and 0 for the 4th
        var localT     = (t - a) / (b - a);
        localT = clamp(localT, 0, 1);
        item.update(localT);
    }

VSCode in Unity

If you’re tired of MonoDevelop’s editing capabilities, you should try VSCode!
It’s super snappy, and lightweight

Screen Shot 2016-08-24 at 1.36.38 PM

  1. Download VSCode insiders edition
  2. Install the C# 1.3.0 support
  3. Install mono debugger
  4. brew install mono (need this for intellisense to work)
  5. In unity, open C# project by going to Assets > Open C# Project In Code (don’t just double click a file)

CAAnimation completion callback block

It’s really useful to fire a function when an animation is complete.
There’s no built in way to do that in CoreAnimation, it does have the concept of delegate’s, which get you half way there.

However if you have multiple animations firing, and your delegate is catching everything, you’re gonna be in for a world of hurt.

Here is a simple Swift class I wrote to extend CAAnimation to accept onStart/onCompletion blocks:


import Foundation
import Cocoa

public typealias CAAnimationCallback = (CAAnimation, Bool) -> ();

public class CAAnimationDelegate:NSObject {
  var onStartCallback:CAAnimationCallback?
  var onCompleteCallback:CAAnimationCallback?

  override public func animationDidStart(anim: CAAnimation) {
    if let startHandler = onStartCallback {
      startHandler(anim, true);
    }
  }

  override public func animationDidStop(anim: CAAnimation, finished flag: Bool) {
    if let completionHandler = onCompleteCallback {
      completionHandler(anim, flag);
    }
  }
}

public extension CAAnimation {
  // See if there is already a CAAnimationDelegate handling this animation
  // If there is, add onStart to it, if not create one
  func setonStartCallbackBlock(callback:CAAnimationCallback) {
    if let myDelegate = delegate {
      if(myDelegate.isKindOfClass(CAAnimationDelegate)) {
        let myThing = myDelegate as! CAAnimationDelegate;
        myThing.onStartCallback = callback;
      }
    } else {
      let callbackDelegate = CAAnimationDelegate();
      callbackDelegate.onStartCallback = callback;
      self.delegate = callbackDelegate;
    }
  }

  // See if there is already a CAAnimationDelegate handling this animation
  // If there is, add onCompletion to it, if not create one
  func setCompletionBlock(callback:CAAnimationCallback) {
    if let myDelegate = delegate {
      if(myDelegate.isKindOfClass(CAAnimationDelegate)) {
        let myThing = myDelegate as! CAAnimationDelegate;
        myThing.onCompleteCallback = callback;
      }
    } else {
      let callbackDelegate = CAAnimationDelegate();
      callbackDelegate.onCompleteCallback = callback;
      self.delegate = callbackDelegate;
    }
  }
}

Usage

var animation = CABasicAnimation(keyPath: "strokeEnd")
animation.duration = duration
animation.fromValue = 0.0
animation.toValue = 1.0
animation.setCompletionBlock({ (anim:CAAnimation) in
  Swift.print("On Complete!")
})

CAAnimation delegate not working (Swift)

CAAnimation provides a way of receiving a callback upon start or completion of an animation.
If you have a ‘pure’ class, that is a class that does not inherit from anything, doing this will have no effect:


  class Petal {
      func startAnimation(duration: Double = 2.0) {
      let pathAnimation = CABasicAnimation(keyPath: "strokeEnd");
      pathAnimation!.delegate = self;
      pathAnimation!.duration = duration;
      pathAnimation!.fromValue = 0.0;
      pathAnimation!.toValue = 1.0;

      self.shapeLayer.addAnimation(pathAnimation!, forKey: "strokeEnd");
    }

    func animationDidStart(anim: CAAnimation) {
      Swift.print("ANIMATION DID START!");
    }

    func animationDidStop(anim: CAAnimation, finished flag: Bool) {
      Swift.print("ANIMATION DID END!");
    }
  }

The reason is because:
You must subclass NSObject, as the delegate methods exist as an informal protocol extension on NSObject

So simply changing it to this is enough:


  class Petal:NSObject { // Subclass NSObject
      func startAnimation(duration: Double = 2.0) {
      ....
    }

    // These are now overrides
    override func animationDidStart(anim: CAAnimation) {
      Swift.print("ANIMATION DID START!");
    }

    override func animationDidStop(anim: CAAnimation, finished flag: Bool) {
      Swift.print("ANIMATION DID END!");
    }
  }

Numeric operator overloading in Swift

Sometimes when developing in Swift if you’re trying to do seemingly simple things like divide 2 numbers:

let interval:Double = 1.0/fps;

You’ll get errors like these:

binary operator '*' cannot be applied to operands of type 'CGFloat' and 'Double'

binary operator '*' cannot be applied to operands of type 'Int' and 'CGFloat'

cannot convert value of type 'Float' to expected argument type 'Double'

binary operator '*' cannot be applied to operands of type 'CGFloat' and 'Int8'

This is because Swift is more strict about how it treats numeric types, and you have to manually cast them to the same type in order for those operations to work.

However cause we can write our own operator in Swift, we can make it so that when it encounters 2 types, it will check to see if we have a matching operator and use that instead.

So as I’ve encountered them, I’ve been appending to a my little NumericOperatorOverloadingExtensions.swift file:

import Foundation

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ADDITION ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
public func +(a: Float, scalar: Int)  -> Float  { return a + Float(scalar); }
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// MULTIPLICATION  //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Int *
public func *(a: Int, scalar: CGFloat)  -> CGFloat  { return CGFloat(a) * scalar; }
public func *(a: Int, scalar: Float)    -> Float    { return Float(a) * scalar; }
public func *(a: Int, scalar: Double)   -> Double   { return Double(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: CGFloat, a: Int)  -> CGFloat  { return CGFloat(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: Float, a: Int)    -> Float    { return Float(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: Double, a: Int)   -> Double   { return Double(a) * scalar; }

// Int8 *
public func *(a: Int8, scalar: CGFloat)  -> CGFloat  { return CGFloat(a) * scalar; }
public func *(a: Int8, scalar: Float)    -> Float    { return Float(a) * scalar; }
public func *(a: Int8, scalar: Double)   -> Double   { return Double(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: CGFloat, a: Int8)  -> CGFloat  { return CGFloat(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: Float, a: Int8)    -> Float    { return Float(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: Double, a: Int8)   -> Double   { return Double(a) * scalar; }

// Int32 *
public func *(a: Int32, scalar: CGFloat)  -> CGFloat  { return CGFloat(a) * scalar; }
public func *(a: Int32, scalar: Float)    -> Float    { return Float(a) * scalar; }
public func *(a: Int32, scalar: Double)   -> Double   { return Double(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: CGFloat, a: Int32)  -> CGFloat  { return CGFloat(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: Float, a: Int32)    -> Float    { return Float(a) * scalar; }
public func *(scalar: Double, a: Int32)   -> Double   { return Double(a) * scalar; }

// Float *
public func *(a: Float, scalar: Double)  -> Float  { return a * Float(scalar); }
public func *(a: Float, scalar: Double)  -> CGFloat  { return CGFloat(a * Float(scalar)); }
public func *(a: Float, scalar: Double)  -> Double  { return Double(a) * scalar; }

// CGFLOAT  *
public func *(a: CGFloat, scalar: Double)  -> CGFloat  { return a * CGFloat(scalar); }
public func *(a: CGFloat, scalar: Double)  -> Float  { return Float(a) * Float(scalar); }
public func *(a: CGFloat, scalar: Double)  -> Double  { return Double(a) * scalar; }

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// DIVISION ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Double /
public func /(a: Double, b: Int)  -> Double  { return a / Double(b); }
public func /(a: Double, b: Float)  -> Double  { return a / Double(b); }
public func /(a: Double, b: Int)  -> Int  { return Int(a) / b; }
public func /(a: Int, b: Double)  -> Double  { return Double(a) / b; }
public func /(a: Int, b: Double)  -> Int  { return Int(Double(a) / b); }

// Float /
public func /(a: Float, b: Int)  -> Float  { return a / Float(b); }
public func /(a: Float, b: Int)  -> Int  { return Int(a) / b; }
public func /(a: Int, b: Float)  -> Float  { return Float(a) / b; }
public func /(a: Int, b: Float)  -> Int  { return Int(Float(a) / b); }
public func /(a: Float, scalar: Double)  -> Float  { return a / Float(scalar); }

NPM install from branch on private repo

Something you need a specific branch of a repository that has not been published yet.

git+http://git@SUBDOMAIN.DOMAIN.COM/USER/REPO-URL.git#4d331600

For example:

// this URL
https://github.com/onedayitwillmake/RealtimeMultiplayerNodeJs/tree/39333c6227ea537e3f5d4ec9e893d7f9c670c867
 
// becomes in your package.json
git+https://git@github.com/USERNAME/REPO_NAME.git#39333c6227ea537e3f5d4ec9e893d7f9c670c867
 
// If that doesn't work, try:
npm install --save git+ssh://git@github.com/USERNAME/REPO_NAME.git#HASH

Swap HTTP for HTTPS, depending on your repo location