wiw2

Is there a live demo anywhere? Is it possible to deploy a demo locally to try it out?

What if I tend to import STLs from thing verse and modify them?

IIRC STLs are triangular meshes. Would bRep programs like build123d able to "convert" them to "true geometric objects"?

I would presume the answer is no.

Looking back at your build123d code, it looks like the biggest differentiator compare to OpenSCAD and CadQuery is the expressiveness to assign shapes to variables, right?

I was able to check that box with PythonSCAD thus far, so that's "solved" for me.

Otherwise, I see a lot of vector/coordinate manipulation that isn't too different from OpenSCAD/PythonSCAD.

However, I can see there's some additional abstraction primitives with arc and tangents that looks nice. That doesn't quite exist in any OpenSCAD based or similar engine since there's no built-in way to get info out of the shapes in a reflection-like way.

Maybe I will give Build123d another go and see if I can sustain some sort of momentum.

This was my impression with build123d and Cadquery.

On paper they have a better abstraction than OpenScad. Yet, the code to express the same output is more bloated.

I was never able to get over the yak shaving learning curve to be proficient. Openscad mental model is a lot simpler to sustain momentum to go build something.

How did you get around to prefer Cadquery/build123d?

Thank you! I have seen your posts in the PythonSCAD subreddit. They have been very helpful!

Thankfully I have been able to do what I want to do without learning the complexity that comes with Build123d etc.

Perhaps someday, but I havent had the need to get there thus far.

Also: Encapsulation etc was achievable with Python, which is something I already know. PythonSCAD checked all the boxes for me without the learning curve.

I poked around with CadQuery and Build123D.

The learning curve required a paradigm shifted in abstraction. That was too much.

I just want OpenSCAD simplicity, but with modern programming language syntax.

I ended up settling with PythonScad. I was able to hit the ground running and leverage what I already know about python within a day.

It's new, but the author is extremely active and collaborative on github (https://github.com/gsohler/openscad) and reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/pythonscad/). The author actually pushed for merging this into OpenSCAD mainline, but got gatekeeped out since OpenSCAD maintainers believed Python went against OpenSCAD's mantra of being 'secure'.

I recommend PythonSCAD to anyone that liked OpenSCAD simplicity in abstraction but feel handicapped by the lack of expressiveness.

Is the Mario Brothers reference to some AI in "solving" auto-playing Mario successfully?

Hi there!

In https://www.hytradboi.com/2022/how-to-query-almost-everythin... @ 4:15, you mentioned data modeled as graphs are equivalent to relational models.

I can see relation models can be represented as graphs (e.g., table foreign keys to another table are "edges"; fields in the table that are not primary keys are "properties")

However, I am not quite confident in the claim that arbitrary graphs being mappable as relational models. I suspect there are certain graphs that can be difficult to express as relational models.

So question for you: Would you say all Trustfall expressions can be translated to SQL? Or, there are cases where there's no such translation possible?

Absolutely. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

The "email digest" approach is basically DIY newsletter. While this approach works for me, it may not work well for others. YMMV.

One of my favorite hacks: I made a google appscript that scans a list of RSS feeds to email weekly digests. Surprisingly simple, and much more useful then running a separate RSS reader in my opinion.

I have to confess: little automations like this with low barrier of entry is where I find most value in tech. Simple and practical.