Module animation 

Animation and frame management for flicker-free terminal graphics.

This module provides the core infrastructure for building smooth, professional-quality terminal animations. The key component is FrameBuffer, which implements double buffering to eliminate visual tearing and flickering during frame updates.

Double Buffering Explained

Double buffering is a technique where two buffers are maintained:

• Front buffer: Currently displayed on screen (read-only during drawing)
• Back buffer: Being prepared for the next frame (where you draw)

The workflow is:

1. Clear the back buffer
2. Draw the next frame to the back buffer
3. Instantly swap front and back buffers (O(1) pointer swap)
4. Render the new front buffer to the terminal
5. Repeat

This eliminates flickering because the user only sees complete frames - never partially drawn content.

Example

use dotmax::animation::FrameBuffer;
use dotmax::TerminalRenderer;

// Create a double-buffered frame system
let mut buffer = FrameBuffer::new(80, 24);

// Get mutable access to the back buffer for drawing
let back = buffer.get_back_buffer();
back.clear();
back.set_dot(10, 10).unwrap();  // Draw something

// Swap buffers - instant O(1) operation
buffer.swap_buffers();

// Render the front buffer to terminal
// let mut renderer = TerminalRenderer::new().unwrap();
// buffer.render(&mut renderer).unwrap();

Performance

• Buffer swap time: <1ms (pointer swap, not data copy)
• Designed for 60+ fps animations
• Memory efficient: buffers are reused, not reallocated

Structs

AnimationLoop

High-level animation loop abstraction.

AnimationLoopBuilder

Builder for constructing AnimationLoop instances.

DifferentialRenderer

Optimized renderer that only outputs changed cells.

FrameBuffer

Double-buffered frame management for flicker-free animation.

FrameTimer

Frame timing control for consistent animation speeds.

PrerenderedAnimation

Pre-rendered animation for optimal playback performance.