Hey there! I'm zeankun.dev, here back after a long hiatus on dev.to. Weeewwww! 😅. I currently don't really have any topics to discuss about, but it might be interesting to actually talk about CompassCAD, a non-parametric 2D CAD software primarily for planners, building designers, to sketch their ideas. It's basically like a mini canvas for building designers. Now? It's almost proven that CompassCAD is still not really a fully-fledged CAD software at its whole, but you get the idea.
What's actually CompassCAD?
For those who love diving in deep, CompassCAD is a (cough cough, let me repeat that again) non-parametric, open source 2D CAD software. I purposely placed it on competition against AutoCAD, because competition and rivalry are both fierce. It is heavily based on a custom CAD framework I forked from WebCAD5 (in which the modified framework is released as CompassCAD Core) and Sunset UI (it's a scrapped project but it had the good looking UI I wanted, so basically, it's a bootstrap code for UI essentials for desktop apps I make). The entire framework itself was fully optimized by making heavy use of Electron's API so CompassCAD can fully interact with the system and deliver that same natural experience.
How and why I made CompassCAD (as well as some extra lore)
Let's rewind back to 2024. May 2024. Final IGCSE exams completed, and national assessment (according to Indonesian curriculum at that time), I had lots of spare time, or at least to say. I had too much free time after all of that exams. Basically, I realized that CAD has lots of potential in the market, so I began searching for CAD frameworks as a base. JavaScript was very easy to modify and tweak in terms of code, so JavaScript it is. Then I found WebCAD5, a community CAD project made by hacklabcz (originally by joebew42). So I cloned it, tried it on my Firefox instance, I was happy. I also downloaded my Sunset UI pack, and did a few sandboxes here and there, I was happy with WebCAD5 encased in Sunset's UI kit. I also wrote the very first code ever to be tweaked in WebCAD5, which were the essentials, some file operations, and undo/redo. Guess what? It worked well. I also set some socials up just in case people are curious about CompassCAD (those accounts were set up in my phone connected to a café's WiFi network). Some users even left good reviews, even as far as to contact FreeCADNews.
Even until now, some praised me for creating a novice-friendly CAD software, even as far as being spoiled by my informatics teacher (I didn't ask for it, by the way!). Of course, I still maintain CompassCAD with WebCAD5 under the hood, with modifications that looks like bloat but actually useful for later on
Then checked for reviews on ODRS. What a shame!
In school, while having reinstalled Kubuntu, I'm bored at checking KDE Discover. I've checked that CompassCAD earned a saddening 2/5 stars (RIP). I also realized that Discover won't show the reviews, so I had to install two packages: GNOME Software and the Snap plugin for GNOME Software. Bam! -9999 damage. Critical ones.
Deckard, if you're reading this, you better apologize now :)
Boy, I've read that, and how ironic bro's gotta to compare to other CAD software. Second one is too long but gave a comprehensive reason why, unlike deckard.
But that's probably all.
Top comments (0)