alt Hacker NewsI'm a programmer. I once had an idea stuck in my head for a 3d model that I just needed to get down somewhere. I tried learning the basics of AutoCAD but after 2 days of tutorials I still felt overwhelmed.
I looked into alternatives and learned about OpenSCAD. The immediate visual feedback makes picking up the language a breeze. Within an hour of downloading I familiarized myself with the language and had manifested my idea into a 3d model
I think that's a perfect example of a use-case where OpenSCAD shines. It's extremely easy to pick up if you have programming experience and it might even be a good thing to learn before moving onto more professional CAD software. From a teaching perspective, being able to have almost immediately-useful output is priceless
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I think that modern CAD software, like Onshape or Fusion 360 is quite easy to learn. I have no doubt that AutoCAD is difficult to grasp, but it is not a good representative of what is possible.
>It's extremely easy to pick up if you have programming experience and it might even be a good thing to learn before moving onto more professional CAD software.
No, it definitely is not. OpenSCAD makes you think exactly the wrong way about CAD, because it forces you to reason explicitly about your model, when that is something which you need to let the CAD Software do for you. Modern Parametric CAD works by the user defining constraints, which the Software uses to derive the shape of the model, this is not something which conceptually exists in OpenSCAD.
>From a teaching perspective, being able to have almost immediately-useful output is priceless
Which is something which modern CAD does just as well.
The BlockSCAD folks are hoeing that row quite effectively to my mind:
https://www.blockscad3d.com/editor/
I just wish that they'd add the balance of the language/fix some bugs.