What is the Game Of Life?

Life is a simple game that is played on a two-dimensional plane divided up into cells, like on a checkerboard. Each cell has eight neighbors.

A live cell with 8 dead neighbors.

The general principle is that life and death are functions of the number of neighbors: isolated cells die of isolation, whereas cells with too many neighbors die of overpopulation.

Life can be summarized by two rules:

1

A live cell will remain alive in the next generation if it has either two or three live neighbors; otherwise it will die.

2

A dead cell comes alive when it has exactly three live neighbors.

Examples:

 This system of cells will die in the next generation since each cell has only one neighbor. Two or three are required for survival.
This system of cells will remain the same way in the next generation because each cell has three neighbors.
A new cell will be born in the lower right corner because that position has exactly three neighbors.

Interesting Patterns:

 This arrangement, known as the "glider" causes the next generation to reposition itself in such a way that it seems as if the entire colony glides across the screen.
This colony will expand into several symmetric structures until it keeps switching between two arrangements.
A very interesting series of shapes will result from this initial colony. It will finally end in a static colony.

Controls:

Calculates the next generation of cells
Kills all cells
Randomly determines state of each cell