PowerShell is very powerful

[Curculigo]

I have replaced my usage of SmallBASIC for making fun animations with PowerShell and not looking back. SmallBASIC has absolutely no anti-aliasing. The curves plotted by SmallBASIC are very ugly. I can archive the GNU Plot quality with just PowerShell.

Here are some examples:

WinForms version (You can experience a noticeable lag with redrawing when you resize the window. You should use WPF instead):

Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Drawing

$form = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
$form.Text = "Sine Wave"
$form.StartPosition = 'CenterScreen'
$form.ClientSize = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(800, 400)

$pb = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.PictureBox
$pb.Dock = 'Fill'
$form.Controls.Add($pb)

# --- drawing routine ---
function Draw-SineWave {
    param($width, $height)

    $bmp = New-Object System.Drawing.Bitmap($width, $height)
    $g   = [System.Drawing.Graphics]::FromImage($bmp)
    try {
        $g.SmoothingMode = 'AntiAlias'
        $g.Clear([System.Drawing.Color]::White)

        # --- axes ---
        $margin = 10
        $penAxes = New-Object System.Drawing.Pen([System.Drawing.Color]::Gainsboro, 1)
        $g.DrawLine($penAxes, 0, $height/2, $width, $height/2)   # Horizontal midline
        $g.DrawLine($penAxes, $margin, $margin, $margin, $height - $margin) # Y-axis

        # --- sine parameters ---
        $amplitude = ($height / 2) - 20
        $frequency = 2
        $phase     = 0
        $penWave   = New-Object System.Drawing.Pen([System.Drawing.Color]::RoyalBlue, 2)

        # --- draw sine ---
        $prevY = $height/2 - $amplitude * [math]::Sin($phase)
        $prev  = New-Object System.Drawing.PointF(0, [float]$prevY)

        for ($x = 1; $x -lt $width; $x++) {
            $t  = (2 * [math]::PI * $frequency * ($x / $width)) + $phase
            $y  = $height/2 - $amplitude * [math]::Sin($t)
            $pt = New-Object System.Drawing.PointF($x, [float]$y)

            $g.DrawLine($penWave, $prev, $pt)
            $prev = $pt
        }
    }
    finally {
        $g.Dispose()
    }
    return $bmp
}

# --- event handlers ---
$pb.Add_Paint({
    if ($pb.Image -ne $null) {
        $pb.Image.Dispose()   # dispose old image to avoid memory leaks
    }
    $pb.Image = Draw-SineWave $pb.ClientSize.Width $pb.ClientSize.Height
})

$form.Add_Resize({
    $pb.Invalidate()       # triggers Paint event, cleaner than redrawing directly
})

[void]$form.ShowDialog()

WPF with XAML:

Add-Type -AssemblyName PresentationFramework, PresentationCore, WindowsBase


# --- XAML window with a Canvas for drawing ---
$xaml = @"
<Window xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="Sine Wave (WPF)" Width="800" Height="400"
        Background="White" WindowStartupLocation="CenterScreen">
  <Grid>
    <Canvas Name="WaveCanvas" SnapsToDevicePixels="True"/>
  </Grid>
</Window>
"@


# --- build window from XAML ---
$reader = New-Object System.Xml.XmlNodeReader([xml]$xaml)
$window = [Windows.Markup.XamlReader]::Load($reader)


# --- reusable draw function ---
function Draw-SineWave {
    param($canvas)


    $canvas.Children.Clear()


    $width  = [double]$canvas.ActualWidth
    $height = [double]$canvas.ActualHeight
    if ($width -le 0 -or $height -le 0) { return }


    # Parameters
    $amplitude = ($height / 2) - 20
    $frequency = 2
    $phase     = 0


    # Axes
    $axisBrush = [System.Windows.Media.Brushes]::Gainsboro
    $axisThickness = 1


    $hline = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Line
    $hline.X1 = 0;           $hline.Y1 = $height / 2
    $hline.X2 = $width;      $hline.Y2 = $height / 2
    $hline.Stroke = $axisBrush; $hline.StrokeThickness = $axisThickness
    [void]$canvas.Children.Add($hline)


    $margin = 10
    $yline = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Line
    $yline.X1 = $margin;     $yline.Y1 = $margin
    $yline.X2 = $margin;     $yline.Y2 = $height - $margin
    $yline.Stroke = $axisBrush; $yline.StrokeThickness = $axisThickness
    [void]$canvas.Children.Add($yline)


    # Sine wave polyline
    $poly = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Polyline
    $poly.Stroke = [System.Windows.Media.Brushes]::RoyalBlue
    $poly.StrokeThickness = 2


    $points = New-Object System.Windows.Media.PointCollection
    for ($x = 0; $x -lt [int]$width; $x++) {
        $t = (2 * [math]::PI * $frequency * ($x / $width)) + $phase
        $y = $height / 2 - $amplitude * [math]::Sin($t)
        $points.Add([System.Windows.Point]::new($x, $y))
    }
    $poly.Points = $points
    [void]$canvas.Children.Add($poly)
}


# --- hook events ---
$window.Add_Loaded({
    $canvas = $window.FindName("WaveCanvas")
    Draw-SineWave $canvas
})


$window.Add_SizeChanged({
    $canvas = $window.FindName("WaveCanvas")
    Draw-SineWave $canvas
})


# --- run WPF app ---
$app = [System.Windows.Application]::new()
$app.Run($window)

WPF with no XAML:

Add-Type -AssemblyName PresentationFramework, PresentationCore, WindowsBase

# --- Create window ---
$window = New-Object System.Windows.Window
$window.Title = "Sine Wave (WPF)"
$window.Width = 800
$window.Height = 400
$window.Background = [System.Windows.Media.Brushes]::White
$window.WindowStartupLocation = 'CenterScreen'

# --- Create canvas ---
$canvas = New-Object System.Windows.Controls.Canvas
$window.Content = $canvas

# --- Draw function ---
function Draw-SineWave {
    param($canvas)

    $canvas.Children.Clear()

    $width  = [double]$canvas.ActualWidth
    $height = [double]$canvas.ActualHeight
    if ($width -le 0 -or $height -le 0) { return }

    $amplitude = ($height / 2) - 20
    $frequency = 2
    $phase     = 0

    # Axes
    $axisBrush = [System.Windows.Media.Brushes]::Gainsboro
    $axisThickness = 1

    $hline = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Line
    $hline.X1 = 0; $hline.Y1 = $height / 2
    $hline.X2 = $width; $hline.Y2 = $height / 2
    $hline.Stroke = $axisBrush; $hline.StrokeThickness = $axisThickness
    [void]$canvas.Children.Add($hline)

    $margin = 10
    $yline = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Line
    $yline.X1 = $margin; $yline.Y1 = $margin
    $yline.X2 = $margin; $yline.Y2 = $height - $margin
    $yline.Stroke = $axisBrush; $yline.StrokeThickness = $axisThickness
    [void]$canvas.Children.Add($yline)

    # Sine wave polyline
    $poly = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Polyline
    $poly.Stroke = [System.Windows.Media.Brushes]::RoyalBlue
    $poly.StrokeThickness = 2

    $points = New-Object System.Windows.Media.PointCollection
    for ($x = 0; $x -lt [int]$width; $x++) {
        $t = (2 * [math]::PI * $frequency * ($x / $width)) + $phase
        $y = $height / 2 - $amplitude * [math]::Sin($t)
        $points.Add([System.Windows.Point]::new($x, $y))
    }
    $poly.Points = $points
    [void]$canvas.Children.Add($poly)
}

# --- Hook events ---
$window.Add_Loaded({ Draw-SineWave $canvas })
$window.Add_SizeChanged({ Draw-SineWave $canvas })

# --- Run WPF app ---
$app = [System.Windows.Application]::new()
$app.Run($window)

Enhanced version of the WPF with no XAML code for even better performance (I can't experience any performance gains, though):

Add-Type -AssemblyName PresentationFramework, PresentationCore, WindowsBase

# --- Create window ---
$window = New-Object System.Windows.Window
$window.Title = "Sine Wave (WPF)"
$window.Width = 800
$window.Height = 400
$window.Background = [System.Windows.Media.Brushes]::White
$window.WindowStartupLocation = 'CenterScreen'

# --- Create canvas ---
$canvas = New-Object System.Windows.Controls.Canvas
$window.Content = $canvas

# --- Axes (created once) ---
$axisBrush = [System.Windows.Media.Brushes]::Gainsboro
$axisThickness = 1
$margin = 10

$hline = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Line
$hline.Stroke = $axisBrush; $hline.StrokeThickness = $axisThickness
[void]$canvas.Children.Add($hline)

$yline = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Line
$yline.Stroke = $axisBrush; $yline.StrokeThickness = $axisThickness
[void]$canvas.Children.Add($yline)

# --- Polyline (created once) ---
$poly = New-Object System.Windows.Shapes.Polyline
$poly.Stroke = [System.Windows.Media.Brushes]::RoyalBlue
$poly.StrokeThickness = 2
[void]$canvas.Children.Add($poly)

# --- Draw function (updates existing objects) ---
function Draw-SineWave {
    param($canvas)

    $width  = [double]$canvas.ActualWidth
    $height = [double]$canvas.ActualHeight
    if ($width -le 0 -or $height -le 0) { return }

    # Update axes
    $hline.X1 = 0; $hline.Y1 = $height / 2
    $hline.X2 = $width; $hline.Y2 = $height / 2

    $yline.X1 = $margin; $yline.Y1 = $margin
    $yline.X2 = $margin; $yline.Y2 = $height - $margin

    # Update sine wave points
    $poly.Points.Clear()
    $amplitude = ($height / 2) - 20
    $frequency = 2
    $phase     = 0

    for ($x = 0; $x -lt [int]$width; $x++) {
        $t = (2 * [math]::PI * $frequency * ($x / $width)) + $phase
        $y = $height / 2 - $amplitude * [math]::Sin($t)
        $poly.Points.Add([System.Windows.Point]::new($x, $y))
    }
}

# --- Hook events ---
$window.Add_Loaded({ Draw-SineWave $canvas })
$window.Add_SizeChanged({ Draw-SineWave $canvas })

# --- Run WPF app ---
$app = [System.Windows.Application]::new()
$app.Run($window)

[Curculigo]

I think I shouldn't post this here. Sorry.