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The Game of Life

Conway's Game of Life is something which many programmers have a go at as an interesting exercise. This is a C version which I wrote once to go along with a talk on the subject. These two files are both needed:

life.c is the heart of the program
graphics.h describes the graphics routines

The graphics routines come in several versions. Pick one or write your own:

dumb.c crude text: works on almost any computer.
curses.c text using cursor motion: works on most Unix computers.
mac.c works with Metroworks Code Warrier on Macs.
turbo.c works with Turbo C 1.5 on a PC.
allegro.c works with djgpp and the Allegro library

Here are a few data files containing life patterns (look for the xlife program on the Web to find a vast database of further patterns).

rpent the r pentomino
glider the glider
gun the glider gun
repro thirteen gliders colliding to make a gun