zlacker

>>danboa+(OP)
The world doesn't need Text-to-CAD. The world needs a fully capable open source parametric 3D geometric CAD kernel.

Solidworks, Creo, AutoCAD, Fusion, etc., can all take their bug ridden unoptimized single threaded rent-seeking monstrosities and stick em where the sun don't shine.

Seriously - if anyone wants to create an absolutely world-changing piece of software, start working on a new CAD kernel that takes the last 50 years of computer science advances into account, because none of the entrenched industry standards have done so. Don't worry about having to provide customer service, because none of the entrenched industry standards worry about that either.

And no - while openCascade and solvespace are impressive, they aren't fully capable, nor do they start from a modern foundation.

>>digdug+eN
It seems a bizarre statement to state that OpenCASCADE isn't fully capable. Its the only OS licensed kernel that'll read a STEP file. Also "modern foundation" is a misleading statement, any CAD kernel bearing any kind of relevance seems implying a codebase that's been around for a quarter century. Like it or not OpenCASCADE is the hand that was dealt. I've worked with the technology [1] extensively and it provided the underpinnings for a startup I've founded [2]. pythonocc is the bees knees, it allows you to develop a proper CAD app. I'd consider CGAL a modern kernel, but it doesn't cover CAD since there is no BRep support [4] Don't take my word for it, but see also the many publications that have built on the tech [3]

[1] https://github.com/tpaviot/pythonocc-core [2] odico.dk/ [3] https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=pyth... [4] https://www.cgal.org/

>>jf___+901
To be clear - I do think OpenCascade is impressive. Incredibly so, once one becomes aware of the magnitude of the problem it is trying to solve. I will also admit I haven't used it in the past couple of years, but when I did it's limitations in filleting and chamfering alone were enough to make it a non-starter for industry use.

My broader point was that there is a need to start from a new paradigm that leverages the possibilities of modern, highly parallel computing hardware. The hardware requirements for performant and reliable CAD software are incredibly high, and their reliance on high clock speed single core processors is quickly being left behind by modern processing hardware.