Hello People!
I’m trying to develop a genetic algorithm component for GH that interfaces with an external server.
Is it possible to write a plugin / component for GH entirely in Python? I already have quite a bit of code written for data validation and ingestion and I would prefer to stick to it.
I have tried searching the guides a bit and they point to C# being the development platform for the most part. I might be misunderstanding what it means to develop a plugin since I’m new to this platform, so please correct me if I’m wrong.
Yes, it is, altough proper documentation isn’t really there.
The basics are summed up in this thread:
Go trough especially the second part, 2. Advanced compiling: multiple components, projects with modules, updating.
You just need to wrap your head around the .ghpy build process. It is possible to do basically anything you could in C# written plugin (you are still using exactly the same .NET SDK, just with IronPython).
If you want, I can share a “template” project that I used for larger plugin written fully in python.
For more questions @piac is probably the best person to ask.
While maybe not as fully featured as compiling in the traditional sense, the new R8 Script Editor does allow for very easy creation of Rhino and GH plugins and you can feed it Python,2, 3, C#, and Grasshopper.
You can read more about it here:
For my “lighter touch/learning needs” I have found it allows me to rapidly test and is easy to use. So far so good!