Examples of drawing scientific diagrams with Asymptote in IPython notebook

These examples are taken from the gallery on Asymptote's website. We start by installing the asymptote IPython magics remotely.



In [1]:

    
# Install the IPython magic extension
%install_ext http://raw.github.com/azjps/ipython-asymptote/master/asymptote.py









    



Installed asymptote.py. To use it, type:
  %load_ext asymptote



In [2]:

    
# Load the extension
%reload_ext asymptote

Examples



In [3]:

    
%%asy
size(250);

real a=3;
real b=4;
real c=hypot(a,b);

transform ta=shift(c,c)*rotate(-aCos(a/c))*scale(a/c)*shift(-c);
transform tb=shift(0,c)*rotate(aCos(b/c))*scale(b/c);

picture Pythagorean(int n) {
  picture pic;
  fill(pic,scale(c)*unitsquare,1/(n+1)*green+n/(n+1)*brown);
  if(n == 0) return pic;
  picture branch=Pythagorean(--n);
  add(pic,ta*branch);
  add(pic,tb*branch);
  return pic;
}

add(Pythagorean(12));









    









    Out[3]:

Using the -f --outformat argument, the output format of the image can be changed. By default the image is output as a png. Asymptote may require additional configurations or third party programs (ImageMagick) for additional formats.



In [4]:

    
%%asy -f png
import graph3;
import palette;
import contour3;
size(400);

real f(real x, real y, real z) {
  return cos(x)*sin(y)+cos(y)*sin(z)+cos(z)*sin(x);
}

surface sf=surface(contour3(f,(-2pi,-2pi,-2pi),(2pi,2pi,2pi),12));
sf.colors(palette(sf.map(abs),Gradient(red,yellow)));

currentlight=nolight;

draw(sf,render(merge=true));









    









    Out[4]:

A local asymptote code file can also be compiled and displayed if its specified as the argument to an asy file:



In [5]:

    
!head fin.asy









    



// See http://asymptote.sourceforge.net/gallery/fin.asy

import three;
import palette;

int N = 26;
real[] C = array(N,0); 
real[][] A = new real[N][N];
for(int i = 0; i < N; ++i)
  for(int j = 0; j < N; ++j)



In [6]:

    
%asy fin.asy









    









    Out[6]:

We can also interactively append asymptote code to these files:



In [7]:

    
%%asy fin.asy
label("I added this new label right now!", (2.0,0,0), NE);









    









    Out[7]:

To save the intermediate .asy code file and output image, use the -r --root argument.



In [8]:

    
%%asy --root cube
import three;
currentprojection=orthographic(5,4,2, center=true);

size(5cm);
size3(3cm,5cm,8cm);

draw(unitbox);
dot(unitbox, red);

label("$O$", (0,0,0), NW);
label("(1,0,0)", (1,0,0), S);
label("(0,1,0)", (0,1,0), E);
label("(0,0,1)", (0,0,1), Z);









    









    Out[8]:



In [9]:

    
!head cube.asy









    



import three;
currentprojection=orthographic(5,4,2, center=true);

size(5cm);
size3(3cm,5cm,8cm);

draw(unitbox);
dot(unitbox, red);

label("$O$", (0,0,0), NW);