Conway's Game Of Life Description
The Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a cellular automaton devised by the British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970. It is a zero-player game, meaning that its evolution is determined by its initial state, requiring no further input from humans after the initial setup.
The game is played on a grid of cells, where each cell can be in one of two states: alive or dead. The game progresses in discrete steps, called generations. At each step, the state of each cell is determined by its current state and the state of its neighboring cells, according to a set of rules.
The basic rules of the Game of Life are as follows:
Birth: A dead cell with exactly three live neighbors becomes a live cell, as if by reproduction.
Survival: A live cell with two or three live neighbors remains alive; otherwise, it dies from isolation or overcrowding.
Death: A live cell with fewer than two live neighbors dies from isolation, while a live cell with more than three live neighbors dies from overcrowding.
These rules are applied to every cell simultaneously, resulting in the generation of a new grid of cells. The initial state of the grid is typically set by the user or by a predetermined pattern.
Despite its simple rules, the Game of Life can exhibit complex and intricate behavior, including patterns that move, replicate, and interact with each other in fascinating ways. It has been studied extensively by mathematicians, computer scientists, and enthusiasts, and has applications in various fields such as artificial life, computer graphics, and cryptography.
The game is played on a grid of cells, where each cell can be in one of two states: alive or dead. The game progresses in discrete steps, called generations. At each step, the state of each cell is determined by its current state and the state of its neighboring cells, according to a set of rules.
The basic rules of the Game of Life are as follows:
Birth: A dead cell with exactly three live neighbors becomes a live cell, as if by reproduction.
Survival: A live cell with two or three live neighbors remains alive; otherwise, it dies from isolation or overcrowding.
Death: A live cell with fewer than two live neighbors dies from isolation, while a live cell with more than three live neighbors dies from overcrowding.
These rules are applied to every cell simultaneously, resulting in the generation of a new grid of cells. The initial state of the grid is typically set by the user or by a predetermined pattern.
Despite its simple rules, the Game of Life can exhibit complex and intricate behavior, including patterns that move, replicate, and interact with each other in fascinating ways. It has been studied extensively by mathematicians, computer scientists, and enthusiasts, and has applications in various fields such as artificial life, computer graphics, and cryptography.
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