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I would like to generate a random 100 x 100 Lattice, plot this and then, say, the first 3 iterations of Conway's Game of Life.

How can I do this with Mathematica?

I only came up with:

gameOfLife = {224, {2, {{2, 2, 2}, {2, 1, 2}, {2, 2, 2}}}, {1, 1}};
board = RandomInteger[1, {100, 100}];
ArrayPlot[board]
ArrayPlot[Last[ CellularAutomaton[gameOfLife, board, {{0, 1}}]] ]

Does this show the first iteration?

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    $\begingroup$ Why RandomInteger and not for instance ConstantArray? Speed-wise there's not much of a difference, and both generate packed arrays (contrary to Table which is 5 times faster), but I can imagine that 'random' may be confusing to the reader. $\endgroup$
    – Sjoerd C. de Vries
    Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 13:13

1 Answer 1

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This shows the 10 first iteration for a simple starting configuration: board:

board = ConstantArray[0, {100, 100}]; board[[50 ;; 52, 50 ;; 53]] = 1;
ArrayPlot /@ CellularAutomaton["GameOfLife", board, 10]

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ I do njot understand what board = RandomInteger[0, {100, 100}]; board[[50 ;; 52, 50 ;; 53]] = 1; is doing. $\endgroup$
    – C.D.
    Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 13:27
  • $\begingroup$ It simply sets up a board 100x100 with all zeros (aka dead cells) and some pixels in the center (aka life cells) to one. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Huber
    Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 13:30
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry I was simply too lazy and took your code and changed it in the simplest way possible. I corrected the answer. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Huber
    Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 13:39
  • $\begingroup$ Now, I get what you did, thanks. But why not starting with a random table consisting of zeros and ones? I want to start with a random setup. $\endgroup$
    – C.D.
    Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 13:42
  • $\begingroup$ That's o.k., but I wanted to see the if the evolution works o.k. and that can be easier done with a simple pattern. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Huber
    Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 17:07

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