Black Saturn Productions - Mandelbrot Set Explorer

Overview

The Mandelbrot Set Explorer provides graphical map displays of the nonlinear mathematical function popularized by the IBM research scientist, Benoit Mandelbrot. The set is appealing because an amazingly complex and beautiful pattern is generated by a relatively simple algorithm. New levels of detail continously emerge as you examine the edges of the set under increasingly higher powers of magnification. Some of the regions of the set display patterns which look similar to those found in nature.

There are probably over a hundred Mandelbrot explorers on the web, so why another one? The project started out as a training exercise, one that would stress a number of important competencies: numerical calculations, data visualization, GUI programming. It was put up on the web to test its durability against a large user group, and from there it became the most popular Black Saturn production. In response to user requests, a premium version of the program is in planning.

Technical Highlights

The math is easy, but it took a bit of effort to get the program to run fast enough to hold interest until the full set is computed and drawn. There are over a million pixels to be drawn in the medium resolution version! Techniques include

• separate threads for calculation, drawing, and controls,
• partial redraws before full computation completion

Important technical capabilities demonstrated by the Explorer are:

• Swing programming,
• numerical calculations,
• fine grain screen painting, &
• on-line user help