Most Challenging Components to create during grasshoppers' development?

Hi David, I'm curious if you might be able to comment on what was the most difficult component to create during your development of the grasshopper project we all know and love today? Likewise, do you have a favorite component or set of components that you're particularly fond of? Just curious. Thanks for all that you do! I can't imagine how different my work and architecture would be different without your continued involvement in this project over the many years it has been in development.
Tyler

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tyler Selby on March 28, 2016 at 4:37pm

Ahh. That sounds like an incredible improvement!

So, theoretically one could begin to assign meta data to the initial objects used in a definition and they would be included within that data instance as its copy, rotated and edited along a string of components?

Will it be possible to say, "transfer" the meta data from one object to another as one might have a set of lines that contain the custom key "Facade 05" as they are used to create a surface??

If so that is a game changer in many of my definitions and would probably remove large sections of components that I normally use for data management and coordination.

Do you guys have a timeline for when GH2 might begin to peek its head out in the while?

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on March 29, 2016 at 6:33am

So, theoretically one could begin to assign meta data to the initial objects used in a definition and they would be included within that data instance as its copy, rotated and edited along a string of components?

Yeah the idea is that metadata automatically travels with data from left to right, though obviously some custom control is needed. If a point is moved using a vector, does the output point have data from both inputs? Only the point input? Only the vector input? What happens if there are conflicting keys? All these problems are still unsolved.

Will it be possible to say, "transfer" the meta data from one object to another as one might have a set of lines that contain the custom key "Facade 05" as they are used to create a surface??

I don't have any details yet, all I've got working so far is the metadata itself. I imagine the primary way of assigning/changing/removing/copying metadata is via components, that is after all how almost all of GH works.

Do you guys have a timeline for when GH2 might begin to peek its head out in the while?

I'm already so far behind schedule (not just due to slower than expected development, there have also been other projects that have taken up a lot of time) that I hesitate to make a new prediction. It's not going to be very soon though.

Permalink Reply by Tyler Selby on March 29, 2016 at 7:54am

Its fun to learn about the future! Thanks for sharing as always.

How large is the development team this time around? How large was it for GH1?

David Rutten works on things outside of GH? ; )

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on March 29, 2016 at 8:09am

It's still pretty much just me on core GH. Giulio Piacentino, Daniel Piker, Will Pearson, Rajaa Issa, Steve Baer, Alain Cormier, Dan Belcher and Curtis Wensley are all working on stuff I immediately benefit from, but that's just a happy coincidence most of the time.

Permalink Reply by Tyler Selby on March 29, 2016 at 8:18am

Wow, I would have imagined the team would have grown for the 2nd iteration. Is this by design or just the reality of time and budget constraints?

Seams like you could make use of a small team of people helping create such a large under taking.

I apologize in advance for being nosy. Learning about the inner workings of GH development fascinates me to no end.

Permalink Reply by David Stasiuk on March 29, 2016 at 8:37am

This looks to be very exciting indeed!

In addition to an explicit set of components for managing metadata, it could also be useful to have an in-component interface that lets you map from input to output metadata transfer, perhaps as one can currently right-click to graft/flatten/simplify, one can specify which outputs should receive metadata associated with an input.

Permalink Reply by ng5 Alex on March 29, 2016 at 9:49am

yes David! that is exactly what i was trying to suggest, the "travel" option.

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on March 29, 2016 at 10:03am

Yeah some sort of diagram where you can connect up inputs and outputs. Pretty geeky option though, so it would be ideal if most components started out with highly sensible defaults.

Permalink Reply by ng5 Alex on March 28, 2016 at 4:44pm

this must be similar with how volvox plugin works with keys and custom data (add and retrieve). really nice update for gh2.

would be a nice option to choose if these custom assigned keys would "travel" with the data flow, accessing them from the following components outputs.

best

alex

Permalink Reply by Daniel González Abalde on March 29, 2016 at 5:45am

David,

fields that can be really cool. I would easily manipulate numerical maps, for example using numbers to attract/repel (increase/decrease) numbers on fields or graphs. There are plenty of options that are still undeveloped.

Could you give more detail about:

Other core data types like Triangle will also change the topology of many a mesh component.

You already know how to implement metadata? They will be separate components? menu options? both? Special components such as timer?

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on March 29, 2016 at 6:43am

Could you give more detail about:

"Other core data types like Triangle will also change the topology of many a mesh component."

If there's a Triangle native type, components that work on triangles can get rid of the three separate Point inputs and can use a single Triangle input instead. Also data like Ray would simplify the layout of certain components because they now have to ask for a point and a vector separately.

You already know how to implement metadata? They will be separate components? menu options? both? Special components such as timer?

Yes metadata is already functional within data trees. Every tree is capable of double entry bookkeeping so the data itself and the metadata remain synchronised. I did not write any functional components yet so that is still pretty much undecided.

Permalink Reply by Paul N Jeffries on March 29, 2016 at 9:17am

Hi David,

Out of (vested) interest, will there be substantial changes to the way components are defined in code? Will plug-in components written for GH1 work out-of-the-box for GH2 or will there need to be some updates made?

Cheers,