I could not find a simple demonstrative example of *insert title here*. I am leaving this out here for future reference.

Note that a recursive implementation for deCasteljau’s is not efficient, since it results in unnecessary multiple computation of some intermediary points.

def deCasteljau(points, u, k = None, i = None, dim = None):
"""Return the evaluated point by a recursive deCasteljau call
Keyword arguments aren't intended to be used, and only aid
during recursion.

Args:
points -- list of list of floats, for the control point coordinates
example: [[0.,0.], [7,4], [-5,3], [2.,0.]]
u -- local coordinate on the curve: $u \in [0,1]$

Keyword args:
k -- first parameter of the bernstein polynomial
i -- second parameter of the bernstein polynomial
dim -- the dimension, deduced by the length of the first point
"""
if k == None: # topmost call, k is supposed to be undefined
# control variables are defined here, and passed down to recursions
k = len(points)-1
i = 0
dim = len(points[0])

# return the point if downmost level is reached
if k == 0:
return points[i]

# standard arithmetic operators cannot do vector operations in python,
# so we break up the formula
a = deCasteljau(points, u, k = k-1, i = i, dim = dim)
b = deCasteljau(points, u, k = k-1, i = i+1, dim = dim)
result = []

# finally, calculate the result
for j in range(dim):
result.append((1-u) * a[j] + u * b[j])

return result


A demonstration of the above function

import numpy as np
import pylab as pl
import math

# insert deCasteljau function definition here

points = [[0.,0.], [7,4], [-5,3], [2.,0.]]

def plotPoints(b):
x = [a[0] for a in b]
y = [a[1] for a in b]
pl.plot(x,y)

curve = []

for i in np.linspace(0,1,100):
curve.append(deCasteljau(points, i))

plotPoints(curve)
pl.show()


#### For Rational Bezier Curves

With a small modification, same function can be used for rational Bezier curves

def rationalDeCasteljau(points, u, k = None, i = None, dim = None):
"""Return the evaluated point by a recursive deCasteljau call
Keyword arguments aren't intended to be used, and only aid
during recursion.

Args:
points -- list of list of floats, for the control point coordinates
example: [[1.,0.,1.], [1.,1.,1.], [0.,2.,2.]]
u -- local coordinate on the curve: $u \in [0,1]$

Keyword args:
k -- first parameter of the bernstein polynomial
i -- second parameter of the bernstein polynomial
dim -- the dimension, deduced by the length of the first point
"""
if k == None: # topmost call, k is supposed to be undefined
# control variables are defined here, and passed down to recursions
k = len(points)-1
i = 0
dim = len(points[0])-1

# return the point if downmost level is reached
if k == 0:
return points[i]

# standard arithmetic operators cannot do vector operations in python,
# so we break up the formula
a = rationalDeCasteljau(points, u, k = k-1, i = i, dim = dim)
b = rationalDeCasteljau(points, u, k = k-1, i = i+1, dim = dim)
result = []

# finally, calculate the result
for j in range(dim+1):
result.append((1-u) * a[j] + u * b[j])

# at the end of first and topmost call, when the recursion is done,
# normalize the result by dividing by the weight of that point
if k == len(points)-1:
for i in range(dim):
result[i] /= result[dim]
# dimension is also the index with the weight

return result


We can demonstrate by e.g. comparing the algorithm’s results with a circular arc

import numpy as np
import pylab as pl
import math

# insert rationalDeCasteljau function definition here

points = [[1.,0.,1.], [1.,1.,1.], [0.,2.,2.]]

def plotPoints(b):
x = [a[0] for a in b]
y = [a[1] for a in b]
pl.plot(x,y)

curve = []

# limit to 5 points to show the difference with analytic solution
for i in np.linspace(0,1,5):
curve.append(rationalDeCasteljau(points, i))

plotPoints(curve)

# plot the actual circular arc
arc_x = np.linspace(0,1,100)
arc_y = []

for i in arc_x:
arc_y.append(math.sqrt(1-i*i))

pl.plot(arc_x, arc_y)

pl.show()


I am not actually working on Bezier curves, but NURBS. My reference for studying is The NURBS Book by Piegl and Tiller, which is excellent so far.