MAKE THE MATHEMATICS YOURSELF

Ulam spiral in C

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

Output generated by this C program: Ulam spiral
Generated by the C program below Download image ↗
FROM SOURCE TO SHAPE

Run it in three steps.

  1. Save the source.

    Download ulam.c into a folder on your computer.

  2. Compile it.

    In that folder, run this with GCC or Clang:

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

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

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

THE RULE IN THE PROGRAM

How the picture is built

Prime integers on the anticlockwise square spiral, starting 1 at the origin and 2 to the right.

Make it your own

terms=22801

Diagonal patterns describe a finite prime sample; a visible line is not a proof of infinitely many primes. Each run produces one image; use Graphic mode for the interactive animation.

The complete source

ulam.c · 97 lines · no graphics libraries
/* Arithmos: ulam
 * Compile: cc -std=c11 -O2 ulam.c -lm -o ulam
 * Run:     ./ulam
 * Output:  ulam.svg (open this file in a browser)
 * Optional output path: ./ulam 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;}

/* Consecutive integers on the square spiral; primes glow. */
static void draw(void) {
    const int terms = 22801; /* Editable: 151 squared fills a square. */
    const double scale = 580.0 / (ceil(sqrt((double)terms)) + 2.0);
    int x=0, y=0, dx=1, dy=0, run=1, steps=0, turns=0;
    for (int n=1; n<=terms; ++n) {
        double px=500+x*scale, py=345-y*scale;
        if (nt_prime(n)) nt_dot(px,py,fmax(.8,scale*.22),(double)n/terms,1);
        else nt_dot(px,py,.45,.3,.12);
        x+=dx; y+=dy;
        if (++steps==run) {
            int old_dx=dx; dx=-dy; dy=old_dx; steps=0;
            if (++turns%2==0) ++run;
        }
    }
    nt_text(45,675,"Square spiral: prime positions glow; color follows integer size.");
}

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] : "ulam.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;
}
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