Programming Challenge 17 - Implement the Cellular Automaton known as Life.

This isn't due until the end of October but as I thought of it the other day, I thought it best created before I forgot about it. Nearly 40 years ago a British mathematician John Horton Conway devised three simple rules which defined a cellular automaton that he called Life. It runs on a 2d grid with each point being clear or set. The rules determine what points are cleared (die) or are set (born) according to three simple rules.

1. A set point surrounded by 2 or 3 other set points survives to the next generation.
2. A set point dies if there are less than 2 other set points or more than 3 around it.
3. A clear point becomes set if there are exactly three set points around it.

It's quite fascinating seeing the patterns arise before your eyes as each generation is processed. Some shapes (gliders) propel themselves across the grid as the animated image hopefully demonstrates. If not then you can view the original on Wikipedia.

Implementing it so that it runs fast is an interesting challenge. So this challenge is to create code that will implement Life according to those three rules and process a long lived shape of just five dots for 1,000 generations as quickly as possible. By the way, Challenge 15 hasn't had any entries yet!

• Link to Programming Challenge Fifteen Create a Dungeon
• Link to Programming Challenge Seventeen Implement Life, to run as quick as possible