MAKE THE MATHEMATICS YOURSELF

Rudin–Shapiro turning tapestry in C

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

Output generated by this C program: Rudin–Shapiro turning tapestry
Generated by the C program below Download image ↗
FROM SOURCE TO SHAPE

Run it in three steps.

  1. Save the source.

    Download rudin-shapiro.c into a folder on your computer.

  2. Compile it.

    In that folder, run this with GCC or Clang:

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

    Open rudin-shapiro.svg in a browser to see the result.

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

THE RULE IN THE PROGRAM

How the picture is built

For each integer n starting at zero, count overlapping 11 pairs in its binary expansion. An even count gives +1 and an odd count gives −1. Turn by that signed quarter-turn before taking one unit step.

Make it your own

N=1200 terms. Try 256, 1024, or 4096. Initial heading points right; mathematical positive turns go left.

The path is a chosen turtle interpretation of the sequence, not a graph of partial sums or a diffraction pattern. Changing the turn rule changes the shape. Arrays are stack allocated; keep N moderate. Each run produces one image; use Graphic mode for the interactive animation.

The complete source

rudin-shapiro.c · 104 lines · no graphics libraries
/* Arithmos: rudin-shapiro
 * Compile: cc -std=c11 -O2 rudin-shapiro.c -lm -o rudin-shapiro
 * Run:     ./rudin-shapiro
 * Output:  rudin-shapiro.svg (open this file in a browser)
 * Optional output path: ./rudin-shapiro 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;}

/* A binary integer determines a left/right turn: count overlapping 11 pairs.
   Edit N. The walk turns BEFORE each unit step, exactly as in the atlas. */
static void draw(void) {
    enum { N=1200 };
    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 pairs=(unsigned)i & ((unsigned)i>>1),parity=0;
        while(pairs){parity^=1;pairs&=pairs-1;}
        int sign=parity?-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),.85,1.15);
    nt_text(50,675,"Rudin-Shapiro: even 11-pair count turns left; odd turns right");
}

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] : "rudin-shapiro.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 ↓