Atopile
Dev tools
pcb design language
SHOW HN2024
How HN took it
54 positive, 85 neutral or asking, 5 mixed, 25 critical, out of 169 comments about the project. Thread score +0.13.
Idea: 30 for, 17 againstDesign: 4 for, 6 againstExecution: 4 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Text-based, readable format and reuse of designs are appealing
From 2 comments
Very nice! The state of electronics tooling has long been extremely bad - 99% of people who put a regulator into their schematic will want an appropriate input and output…
michaelt on HNI love that this is human-readable plain text. Plain text is almost always the best format for anything.
anon291 on HN
Open source and modular design sharing are valuable
From 1 comment
Thanks!! The open source aspect was really important to us. We are hoping that ato modules can become a convenient language for the community to share modules with each other, in…
Timot05 on HN
Objections
Schematics convey information better than code and are hard to replace
From 1 comment
@Timot05 I wish you the best. Among other things, you are reinventing Verilog and other attempts. Yet, of course, evolution does not happen without people who are willing to…
robomartin on HN
Python-based approach is an obsolete language choice
From 1 comment
Why python? Why sink development effort into an obsolete and deeply flawed language?
Mikhail_K on HN
Import syntax follows JavaScript style and hinders autocomplete
From 1 comment
`import Y from X` is a terrible language design decision, established by the JavaScript ecosystem. It should be along the lines of `import X.Y` or `from X import Y` so that…
Taig on HN
Requests
A schematic viewer or visual representation of the circuit
From 2 comments
I think this is a wonderful idea and begins to create a foundation of data richness and interoperability for a very exciting new approach to PCB design, as I commented elsewhere…
helpfulmountain on HNI was thinking the same thing (I'm an EE by day). I think this idea is very cool, but since the dawn of time schematics and PCB layout have always been visual because you are…
polalavik on HN
Autorouting support
From 1 comment
Did you know that the KiCad file format for schematics and PCB layouts is text? And it kind of reads like source code? You can even check it into Git. What stops electronics from…
fxtentacle on HN
Language server and editor support
From 2 comments
Great point. We'll change that soon! Especially true for interfaces too since modules might have tons of accessible interfaces and the language server could list them out for…
Timot05 on HNYeah, I think we only allow import x from y for the minute. And because we don't have a language server yet, it wasn't obvious that it was an issue. That'll change soon when the…
Timot05 on HN
Questions
How does it differ from JITX?
From 1 comment
Could you please explain the difference between Atopile and Jitx (https://www.jitx.com/)? Both seem to provide software-defined hardware development.
syedkarim on HN
Can schematics be converted to and from the text format?
From 1 comment
I think this is a wonderful idea and begins to create a foundation of data richness and interoperability for a very exciting new approach to PCB design, as I commented elsewhere…
helpfulmountain on HN
Alternatives named
JITX
From 1 comment
Could you please explain the difference between Atopile and Jitx (https://www.jitx.com/)? Both seem to provide software-defined hardware development.
syedkarim on HN
SKiDL (Python)
From 1 comment
Hey, We did use skidl for a little while as we were figuring things out (see a project here: https://gitlab.atopile.io/pew-pew-and-friends/sizzle-sack). But we later ended up…
Timot05 on HN
KiCAD, Altium, Eagle, OrCAD
From 1 comment
@Timot05 I wish you the best. Among other things, you are reinventing Verilog and other attempts. Yet, of course, evolution does not happen without people who are willing to…
robomartin on HN