Creating the first program

Every Pure Data program is a text file with an extension (.pd). In Pure Data's term, a program is called a patch. Electronic musicians often use cables to connect different devices to produce sound. The cables are referred as patch cables. Since Pure Data is originally a piece of software to produce electronic music, the name patch refers to a Pure Data program.

To create a new patch, navigate to File | New to make an empty patch. From the menu, choose File | Save to save the patch in the folder you plan to store your Pure Data material. Pure Data does not assume a default location for your patches. You can decide where to put them.

At this point, you will have an empty window with a cursor that appears to be a finger pointing to the left. Before we proceed to the notorious Hello World example, we need to go through the Pure Data interface first.