Silly little step spiral in Python using itertools.

step_spiral.py

import itertools
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
%matplotlib inline


def step_spiral(x_0=0, y_0=0):
    point = (0, x_0, y_0)
    yield point
    
    triplets = zip(itertools.count(1),
                   itertools.cycle([0, 0, 1, 0, 0, -1]),
                   itertools.cycle([1, 0, 0, -1, 0, 0]))
    for (i, x, y) in triplets:
        point = (i, point[1] + x*i**2, point[2] + y*i**2)
        yield point

points = list(itertools.takewhile(lambda trip: trip[0] < 100, step_spiral()))
points = np.array(points)
plt.plot(points[:,1], points[:,2]);