MAKE THE MATHEMATICS YOURSELF

Paperfolding dragon trace in C

A complete program. Standard C, a compiler, and the rule behind the shape.

Output generated by this C program: Paperfolding dragon trace
Generated by the C program below Download image ↗
FROM SOURCE TO SHAPE

Run it in three steps.

  1. Save the source.

    Download paperfolding.c into a folder on your computer.

  2. Compile it.

    In that folder, run this with GCC or Clang:

    cc -std=c11 -O2 paperfolding.c -lm -o paperfolding
  3. Make the image.
    ./paperfolding

    Open paperfolding.svg in a browser to see the result.

On Windows with GCC, name the executable paperfolding.exe and run it from the same folder.

THE RULE IN THE PROGRAM

How the picture is built

At one-based position k, remove all factors of two. Odd part congruent to 1 modulo 4 supplies a left turn; odd part congruent to 3 supplies a right turn. Turn before taking each unit step.

Make it your own

N=2047 turns. Values 2^m−1, such as 511, 1023, and 4095, reveal complete folding stages.

The signed encoding and starting orientation follow the atlas. This finite turn-before-step drawing omits the additional initial segment used in another common dragon-curve convention. Stack arrays favor modest N. Each run produces one image; use Graphic mode for the interactive animation.

The complete source

paperfolding.c · 104 lines · no graphics libraries
/* Arithmos: paperfolding
 * Compile: cc -std=c11 -O2 paperfolding.c -lm -o paperfolding
 * Run:     ./paperfolding
 * Output:  paperfolding.svg (open this file in a browser)
 * Optional output path: ./paperfolding my-image.svg
 * Edit the constants in draw() to explore another case.
 */
#include <math.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

static FILE *nt_out;
#define NT_PI 3.14159265358979323846

/* The small SVG writer keeps this program free of graphics dependencies.
 * Coordinates are pixels on a 1000 x 700 drawing surface.
 * t runs from 0 to 1 through mint, blue, rose, and gold.
 */
static inline void nt_color(double t, char hex[8]) {
    const double stops[4][3] = {
        {91,227,201}, {128,146,240}, {218,138,220}, {244,200,127}
    };
    t = fmax(0.0, fmin(1.0,t)) * 3.0;
    int band = (int)fmin(2.0,floor(t));
    double blend = t - band;
    int r[3];
    for (int k=0;k<3;k++) r[k]=(int)lround(stops[band][k]*(1.0-blend)+stops[band+1][k]*blend);
    snprintf(hex,8,"#%02x%02x%02x",r[0],r[1],r[2]);
}
static inline void nt_line(double x,double y,double X,double Y,double t,double alpha,double width) {
    char color[8];nt_color(t,color);
    fprintf(nt_out,"<path d=\"M%.3f %.3f L%.3f %.3f\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"%s\" stroke-opacity=\"%.3f\" stroke-width=\"%.3f\"/>\n",x,y,X,Y,color,alpha,width);
}
static inline void nt_dot(double x,double y,double r,double t,double alpha) {
    char color[8];nt_color(t,color);
    fprintf(nt_out,"<circle cx=\"%.3f\" cy=\"%.3f\" r=\"%.3f\" fill=\"%s\" fill-opacity=\"%.3f\"/>\n",x,y,r,color,alpha);
}
static inline void nt_circle(double x,double y,double r,double t,double alpha,double width) {
    char color[8];nt_color(t,color);
    fprintf(nt_out,"<circle cx=\"%.3f\" cy=\"%.3f\" r=\"%.3f\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"%s\" stroke-opacity=\"%.3f\" stroke-width=\"%.3f\"/>\n",x,y,r,color,alpha,width);
}
static inline void nt_rect(double x,double y,double w,double h,double t,double alpha) {
    char color[8];nt_color(t,color);
    fprintf(nt_out,"<rect x=\"%.3f\" y=\"%.3f\" width=\"%.3f\" height=\"%.3f\" fill=\"%s\" fill-opacity=\"%.3f\"/>\n",x,y,w,h,color,alpha);
}
static inline void nt_text(double x,double y,const char *text) {
    fprintf(nt_out,"<text x=\"%.3f\" y=\"%.3f\" fill=\"#ededf3\" font-family=\"monospace\" font-size=\"16\">",x,y);
    for (;*text;text++) {
        if (*text=='&') fputs("&amp;",nt_out);
        else if (*text=='<') fputs("&lt;",nt_out);
        else if (*text=='>') fputs("&gt;",nt_out);
        else fputc(*text,nt_out);
    }
    fputs("</text>\n",nt_out);
}
static inline int nt_gcd(int a,int b) {a=abs(a);b=abs(b);while(b){int r=a%b;a=b;b=r;}return a;}
static inline int nt_prime(int n) {if(n<2)return 0;for(int d=2;d<=n/d;d++)if(n%d==0)return 0;return 1;}

/* Remove factors of 2 from k. Odd part 1 mod 4 means +1, 3 mod 4 means -1.
   Edit N; 2^m-1 turns show complete folding stages. Turn BEFORE moving. */
static void draw(void) {
    enum { N=2047 };
    int x[N+1],y[N+1],heading=0;
    const int dx[4]={1,0,-1,0},dy[4]={0,1,0,-1};
    int xmin=0,xmax=0,ymin=0,ymax=0;x[0]=y[0]=0;
    for(int i=0;i<N;++i) {
        unsigned int odd=(unsigned)i+1;
        while(!(odd&1U))odd>>=1;
        int sign=(odd%4==1)?1:-1;
        heading=(heading+(sign>0?1:3))%4;
        x[i+1]=x[i]+dx[heading];y[i+1]=y[i]+dy[heading];
        if(x[i+1]<xmin)xmin=x[i+1];if(x[i+1]>xmax)xmax=x[i+1];
        if(y[i+1]<ymin)ymin=y[i+1];if(y[i+1]>ymax)ymax=y[i+1];
    }
    double scale=fmin(900.0/fmax(1,xmax-xmin),580.0/fmax(1,ymax-ymin));
    double mx=.5*(xmin+xmax),my=.5*(ymin+ymax);
    for(int i=0;i<N;++i)
        nt_line(500+(x[i]-mx)*scale,340-(y[i]-my)*scale,
                500+(x[i+1]-mx)*scale,340-(y[i+1]-my)*scale,
                i/(double)(N-1),.9,1.05);
    nt_text(50,675,"Paperfolding: successive left/right creases become quarter turns");
}

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    if (argc > 2) {
        fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [OUTPUT.svg]\n", argv[0]);
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
    const char *filename = argc == 2 ? argv[1] : "paperfolding.svg";
    nt_out = fopen(filename, "wb");
    if (!nt_out) { perror(filename); return EXIT_FAILURE; }
    fputs("<svg xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\" width=\"1000\" height=\"700\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 700\">\n"
          "<rect width=\"1000\" height=\"700\" fill=\"#171721\"/>\n", nt_out);
    draw();
    fputs("</svg>\n", nt_out);
    int failed = ferror(nt_out);
    if (fclose(nt_out) != 0) failed = 1;
    if (failed) { fputs("Could not finish writing the image.\n", stderr); return EXIT_FAILURE; }
    printf("Wrote %s\n", filename);
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
All 40 explorations, ready to compile.Download all C examples ↓