For Crying out loud,
Guys, most of you whether intentionally or not with your requirements are deeming ArchiCAD to be as any other program that we usually bash against for those aspect that we like in ArchiCAD and let me explain it in plain simple words:
1. If ArchiCAD is a programming layer, GDL is a lower one, the access from the lower to the higher layer is
limited, ie: aside of the capabilities of ArchiCAD, GDL can access some of it, not all of it. Why I know this, because from time to time I bump into it.
2. To access the full potential of ArchiCAD you need to learn how to use the API, and what I have tried (beside others) is to ask Graphisoft emulate Rhino's policy respecting API, to make it open no questions asked, and providing related training material, easy enough to understand for programming novice (
GDL included
).
3. About Revit's Families, let's say that most what Autodesk says about it is true, have you not known that everything in Revit is a Family, and not just the family editor ... If an ArchiCAD lingo, it's like saying everything in ArchiCAD is a GDL object, guess what, those of us who know how to program in GDL have been using this option ever since we there was GDL.
4. For those of you talking about GDL being an arcane language, sorry to tell you, GDL right now with all the options it have should have been an Industry Standard, just imagine the amount of data that can be embedded in a compact simple object, with a minimal memory requirements, that makes large and complex projects filled with GDL objects achievable, does it means that it's perfect, of course not, but it can be improved. And compared to current status of other languages, GDL is just in the sweet spot for what it was intended for, an easy language with huge capabilities for object creation.
And if you're so sure of yourself, show me a modern modelling language that can do the same!!!!
5. The GDL editor, is lagging compared to other IDE's that you all can get your hands on, but have you just compared Grasshoppers C#, VBA & Python component ??!!!!!
6. All those programs that you told here, like Marionett, Dynamo, etc ... if you were aware they all came out after Grasshopper becoming relevant in the AEC industry, and I see this as a defensive action against losing users base, because what is lacking in all those programs doesn't make leaving Grasshopper an option.
7. Continuing no. 6, I can clearly see that going to algorithmic graphical editors such as Grasshopper is a lost battle not a lost war, and it would be better that Graphisoft improve ArchiCAD at its core, and increase its compatibility with Grasshopper for the time being and for the near-to mid future, without forgetting to sell ArchiCAD as the to go BIM platform for Grasshopper lovers. Both users have similar mindsets, and they can appreciate that.
8. About who of you talking about programming is not an Architect's mind set, sorry to tell you, time have already changed, and as @leceta have just said, it's just a matter of time that architects would have to learn coding to find a job or be unemployed.
Just to make it clear, you're not asked to be the next coding genius, but knowing how to extract, prepare and present data is and will be essential
.
9. Sometime I get the feeling that people here treat programming as an esoteric or a taboo subject, that must be left alone, untouched. I´m sorry to tell you, that mind set, is like boomers who refuses to learn how to use technology but will not say no for reaping its benefits, and I know some cases.
10. Those of you who know me, know very well that Ii like to share the following video:
https://vimeo.com/203509846
I´m sure that some of you will dismiss it, other will open his/her mouth in awe thinking that this is futuristic, guess what it's niether, it's a the sign of a turning point of the whole AEC industry (
as was ArchiCADand every other BIM platform in the time of CAD
), and it was already here, and I say
was, because I will not be suprised that in few years this will be the norm, and ArchiCAD must offer solutions for that and better just to ensure it's position in the BIM and algorithmic scape of our professions.
A good friend of mine have once told me that I´m so brute that I´m capable of creating a GDL script capable of creating GDLs.