View source for Software:BRL-CAD

{{short description|Computer-aided design software}}
{{Infobox software
| name = BRL-CAD
| logo = BRL-CAD logo.png
| screenshot = BRL-CAD screenshot.jpeg
| caption = MGED Screenshot of Moss World
| author = Mike Muuss
| developer = DEVCOM Analysis Center
| released = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1983}}
| discontinued = 
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|Q796941|P548=Q2804309|P348}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q796941|P548=Q2804309|P348|P577}}}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]], [[Tcl]]
| operating system = Cross-platform (BSD, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, and Windows, among others)
| platform = 
| size = 
| language = 
| status = 
| genre = [[Engineering:Computer-aided design|CAD]]
| license = [[Software:GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL-2.1-only]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sourceforge.net/p/brlcad/code/HEAD/tree/brlcad/trunk/COPYING|title=BRL-CAD Copying and Distribution}}</ref>
| website = {{URL|brlcad.org}}
}}
'''BRL-CAD''' is a [[Constructive solid geometry|constructive solid geometry]] (CSG) [[Solid modeling|solid modeling]] [[Engineering:Computer-aided design|computer-aided design]] (CAD) system. It includes an interactive [[Geometry|geometry]] editor, [[Ray tracing (graphics)|ray tracing]] support for [[Rendering (computer graphics)|graphics rendering]] and geometric analysis, [[Computer network|computer network]] distributed [[Framebuffer|framebuffer]] support, scripting, image-processing and signal-processing tools. The entire package is distributed in [[Source code|source code]] and [[Binary file|binary]] form.

Although BRL-CAD can be used for a variety of engineering and graphics applications, the package's primary purpose continues to be the support of ballistic and electromagnetic analyses. In keeping with the [[Philosophy:Unix philosophy|Unix philosophy]] of developing independent tools to perform single, specific tasks and then linking the tools together in a package, BRL-CAD is basically a collection of libraries, tools, and utilities that work together to create, raytrace, and interrogate geometry and manipulate files and data. In contrast to many other 3D modelling applications, BRL-CAD primarily uses [[Constructive solid geometry|CSG]] rather than [[Engineering:Boundary representation|boundary representation]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Hancock|first=Terry|title=Was BRL-CAD the tool I was looking for?|url=http://freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/1633|publisher=freesoftwaremagazine.com|access-date=18 November 2016}}</ref> This means BRL-CAD can "study physical phenomena such as ballistic penetration and thermal, radiative, neutron, and other types of transport".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://brlcad.org/wiki/Overview|title=Overview - BRL-CAD|website=brlcad.org}}</ref> It does also support boundary representation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://brlcad.org/wiki/NURBS|title=NURBS - BRL-CAD|website=brlcad.org}}</ref>

The BRL-CAD libraries are designed primarily for the geometric modeler who also wants to tinker with software and design custom tools. Each library is designed for a specific purpose: creating, editing, and ray tracing geometry, and image handling. The application side of BRL-CAD also offers a number of tools and utilities that are primarily concerned with geometric conversion, interrogation, image format conversion, and command-line-oriented image manipulation.

[[File:brlcad diagram.png|right|thumb|325px|BRL-CAD data flow structure]]

==History==
[[File:Pdp11,70 640x507.jpg|right|thumb|Lead developer Mike Muuss works on the XM-1 tank in BRL‑CAD on a PDP‑11/70 computer system, circa 1980.]]
In 1979, the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) expressed a need for tools that could assist with the computer simulation and engineering analysis of combat vehicle systems and environments.  When no CAD package was found to be adequate for this purpose, BRL software developers – led by Mike Muuss – began assembling a suite of utilities capable of interactively displaying, editing, and interrogating geometric models.  This suite became known as BRL-CAD. Development on BRL-CAD as a package subsequently began in 1983; the first public release was made in 1984.  BRL-CAD became an [[Open-source software|open-source]] project in December 2004.

The BRL-CAD source code repository is the oldest known public version-controlled codebase in the world that's still under active development, dating back to 1983-12-16 00:10:31 [[Physics:Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Robin Luckey |title=The World's Oldest Source Code Repositories |url=http://blog.openhub.net/2007/08/worlds_oldest_source_code_repositories/ |access-date=14 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806132544/http://blog.openhub.net/2007/08/worlds_oldest_source_code_repositories/ |archive-date=6 August 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Software:PLaSM|PLaSM]] - Programming Language of Solid Modeling
* Comparison of CAD editors

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{SourceForge|brlcad}}

{{CAD software}}

[[Category:Computer-aided design software for Linux]]
[[Category:Computer-aided design software]]
[[Category:Free computer-aided design software]]
[[Category:Free software programmed in C]]
[[Category:MacOS computer-aided design software]]
[[Category:Software using the BSD license]]

{{Sourceattribution|BRL-CAD}}