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µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

microcad.xyz

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Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#21

Post by beeflet »

octoberfranklin wrote: post #7

So what is the big advantage of this over OpenSCAD?

I found this:

https://docs.microcad.xyz/language/book/intro/preface.html

>While OpenSCAD is easy to learn and has a syntax reminiscent of C, we felt the language could be improved in several ways:

> - more specialization for creating graphics,

> - better support for modular programming,

> - strict typing and unit handling,

> - a syntax closer to Rust than to C,

> - a solid library system,

> - plugin support for other programming languages,

> - and a more powerful visualization concept.

Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#22

Post by pedropaulovc »

I've been using zoo and its KCL language with some success for boundary-representation CAD writing. If I understood correctly, µcad serves the same purpose. Comparing code samples between both of them, I personally enjoy KCL's pipelined approach more.

My main beef with zoo is the fact that they are promoting vendor lock-in by forcing users to use their cloud-hosted geometry kernel with absolutely no local alternative. It's not clear to me how µcad solves this problem.

[1] Lego brick in KCL: https://zoo.dev/docs/kcl-samples/lego

[2] Lego brick in µcad: https://microcad.xyz/index.php/2025/11/12/lego-bricks/

[3] Gear in KCL: https://zoo.dev/docs/kcl-samples/spur-gear

[4] Gear in µcad: https://microcad.xyz/index.php/2025/11/12/gears/

Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#23

Post by iammattmurphy »

jwilber wrote: post #19
beeflet wrote: post #18

Interesting project, I will look into it. This site sucks. Why does it use php, and why is every link a query? Just make it a static page.

Yeah, my guess is the team vibe-coded it because wow is does it have poor performance /is difficult to use. A few links didn’t even work for me…

The server appears to be down right now too :/

Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#24

Post by teaearlgraycold »

jwilber wrote: post #19
beeflet wrote: post #18

Interesting project, I will look into it. This site sucks. Why does it use php, and why is every link a query? Just make it a static page.

Yeah, my guess is the team vibe-coded it because wow is does it have poor performance /is difficult to use. A few links didn’t even work for me…

If so that means they asked the AI to use PHP. Which is even more horrifying.

Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#25

Post by atrettel »

jwagenet wrote: post #17
lovemenot wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such languages can be amenable to LLM generation, reducing barriers to entry.

The hard part with 3d part creation isn’t the graphical interface or language, it’s actually describing and translating part requirements to a manufacturable design, weighing material, weight, fit, geometric, and cost tradeoffs. Openscad, opencascade, etc have been around for a long time and have specs for describing features in a way that llm should be able to handle, but if all the part constraints were available i…

This is my experience too. I took a course a long time ago in design for manufacturing, and it became abundantly clear that just because you can conceive of an idea doesn't mean that you can build it. That requires a lot more work and technical know-how that isn't always put into books or other "training data".

Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#26

Post by its-summertime »

pedropaulovc wrote: post #22

I've been using zoo and its KCL language with some success for boundary-representation CAD writing. If I understood correctly, µcad serves the same purpose. Comparing code samples between both of them, I personally enjoy KCL's pipelined approach more. My main beef with zoo is the fact that they are promoting vendor lock-in by forcing users to use their cloud-hosted geometry kernel with absolutely no local alternative…

Doesn't it solve the problem by being local? https://codeberg.org/microcad/microcad

Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#27

Post by WillAdams »

awinter-py wrote: post #11

Tried openscad and then cadquery for some geometry iteration projects and found them clunky. It wasn't just that I was missing a UI; the functions, constraints and geometry kernel weren't as powerful as onshape, which I've used a bit, and presumably light years behind fusion 360, which I haven't used. Even freecad, a UI-based oss cad, is not quite ergonomic for a beginner-to-intermediate user, though it has come a lo…

The great thing about OpenSCAD is that it makes it easy to programmatically model objects using cubes, cylinders, cones, and spheres by placing, stretching, and rotating them.

The awful thing about OpenSCAD is that one's ability to model in it is strongly bounded by one's fluency with mathematics and ability to use math to programmatically model objects using cubes, cylinders, cones, and spheres by placing, stretching, and rotating them.

The one tool I'm aware of which is looking at a new geometry kernel which I can recall is:

https://fornjot.app/

Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#29

Post by WillAdams »

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #4
actinium226 wrote: post #2

This is a neat idea and I quite like some of the syntax, but what is this for? I have a hard time seeing this gaining traction over traditional sketch-based CAD for a number of reasons, so is it just meant to be a toy?

I'm a much more capable of designing useful models by programming than I am in using CAD software. The way I think about the construction of models is much more suited to standard programming techniques. I freely admit there is probably immense value in using the industry standard tools instead... I've printed a few projects now which I used OpenSCAD to design, and it went fairly well, and I'm confident in them. Open…

If there was a real possibility of folks being willing to use this sort of UI in industry, BRL-CAD would be far more popular, and writing AutoLISP scripts wouldn't be an obscure specialty.

Re: µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D

#30

Post by WillAdams »

raddan wrote: post #6
actinium226 wrote: post #2

This is a neat idea and I quite like some of the syntax, but what is this for? I have a hard time seeing this gaining traction over traditional sketch-based CAD for a number of reasons, so is it just meant to be a toy?

I would personally prefer to work with a language-based CAD than a strictly graphical one. Especially for parametric kinds of objects. Now that 3D printing is going mainstream, I am certain that new and interesting things are still to come in CAD.

Well, there's OpenSCAD already, and for folks who like Python:

https://pythonscad.org/

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