Processing is a programming language, development environment, and community focused on creating art and design with code. It was created in 2001 by Casey Reas and Ben Fry as a way to bridge the gap between programming and visual arts.

Processing was inspired by early programming languages like BASIC, Logo, and Smalltalk, as well as more recent languages like Java and ActionScript. Casey and Ben wanted to make a programming language that was accessible to artists and designers, while still being powerful enough to create complex visual and interactive projects.

Processing quickly gained popularity in the creative coding community, as it allowed for the creation of dynamic, interactive, and generative artwork with relatively little programming knowledge. The language's syntax is simple and easy to understand, featuring a small set of core functions that can be combined in various ways.

Processing is also open-source and free to use, which has contributed to its popularity and growth as a community. The Processing community is vibrant, with artists, designers, educators, and hobbyists sharing their work, projects, and resources.

Today, Processing has become a widely used tool for visual arts, creative coding, and interactive design, with applications ranging from interactive installations, generative art, data visualization, and multimedia presentations. Processing has also inspired the development of other similar languages and tools, such as p5.js and openFrameworks.