Concise syntax for manim's ValueTrackers

00README.md

Shortcuts for working with valuetrackers

• Tired of typing v.get_value()?
  Type ~v instead thanks to this trick.

• Tired of typing v.animate.set_value(n)?
  Type v@n instead thanks to this trick.

value_trackers.py

# Nifty trick to save lots of keystrokes if you use ValueTrackers (at the cost of readability?)

# I abused some python operators. @ (originally introduced for matrix multiplication) 
# is almost never used for anything, so I repurposed it to set the value of a valuetracker
# in animated form, so x@0 is equivalent to x.animate.set_value(0)

# Also, I repurposed ~ (which is used for bitwise negation, not useful in valuetrackers) 
# to access the value, so ~x is equivalent to x.get_value()


# The implementation is minimalistic
class VT(ValueTracker):
    def __invert__(self):
        return self.get_value()
    def __matmul__(self, v):
        return self.animate.set_value(v)

# Demo of use
class Test(Scene):
    def construct(self):
        # ValueTrackers are created as usual
        x = VT(0)
        y = VT(0)
        
        # Use ~ to get their values
        sq = always_redraw(lambda: Square().move_to([~x, ~y, 0]))
        self.add(sq)
        
        # Use @ to animate setting new values
        self.play(x@4, y@2)
        self.wait()