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| | Q13: | What are L-systems? |
| | A13: | A L-system or Lindenmayer system is a formal grammar for generating |
| strings. (That is, it is a collection of rules such as replace X with XYX.) By |
| recursively applying the rules of the L-system to an initial string, a string |
| with fractal structure can be created. Interpreting this string as a set of |
| graphical commands allows the fractal to be displayed. L- systems are very |
| useful for generating realistic plant structures. |
| |
| Some references are: |
| 1. P. Prusinkiewicz and J. Hanan, Lindenmayer Systems, Fractals, and |
| Plants, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1989. |
| 2. P. Prusinkiewicz and A. Lindenmayer, The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants, | |
| Springer-Verlag, NY, 1990. ISBN 0-387-97297-8. A very good book on L-systems, | |
| which can be used to model plants in a very realistic fashion. The book | |
| contains many pictures. | |
| _________________________________________________________________ |
| |
| More information can be obtained via the WWW at: |
| |
| L-Systems Tutorial by David Green |
| http://life.csu.edu.au/complex/tutorials/tutorial2.html |
| |
| L-system leaf |
| http://www.csu.edu.au/complex_systems/iconfern.gif |
| |
| 3 Dim. L-system Tree program (P.J.Drinkwater) |
| http://hill.lut.ac.uk/TestStuff/trees/ |
| |
| Graphics Archive at the Center for the Computation and Visualization of |
| Geometric Structures contains various fractals created from L-Systems. |
| http://www.geom.umn.edu/graphics/pix/General_Interest/Fractals/ |
| |