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Jincheng Yang

The University of Texas at Austin

Research Blog

Lindenmayer Language

Discovering the fractal world

2015, May 25

Lindenmayer language, or L-language, is a system which can be used to produces numerous fractals. The principle is to start with a word, and follow some rules to replace certain letters by other expressions. After repeating replacing several times we obtain a very long, nonsensical word. Then give each letter some meaning in “turtle geometry”, like “moving forward” or “turning right”. The “turtle” will draw a lot of beautiful shapes.

The one on the thumbnail is a brilliant example from nature. Using only two letters and four signs, following two rules, we can draw a very sophisticated pine tree.

This tool is programmed in Matlab language, with its GUI design tool. You can create your own words, use different rules to create thousands of fractals by yourself!

Here are some classic examples.

Koch Snowflake

Sierpinski Carpet

Dragon Curve


Environment: Matlab

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