For Dynamo v2.13 and newer

Dynamo is an open source visual programming platform for designers.

Welcome

You have just opened the Dynamo Primer, a comprehensive guide to visual programming in Autodesk Dynamo. This primer is an on-going project to share the fundamentals of programming. Topics include working with computational geometry, best practices for rules-based design, cross-disciplinary programming applications, and more with the Dynamo Platform.

The power of Dynamo can be found in a wide variety of design-related activities. Dynamo enables an expanding list of readily accessible ways for you to get started:

• Explore visual programming for the first time

• Connect workflows in various software

• Engage an active community of users, contributors, and developers

• Develop an open-source platform for continued improvement

In the midst of this activity and exciting opportunity for working with Dynamo, we need a document of the same caliber, the Dynamo Primer.

Refer to the primer user guide to find out what you can expect to learn from this primer.

We are continuously improving Dynamo, so some features may look different from what is represented in this Primer. However, all functionality changes will be correctly represented.

Open Source

The Dynamo Primer project is open source! We're dedicated to providing quality content and appreciate any feedback you may have. If you would like to report an issue on anything at all, please post them on our GitHub issue page: https://github.com/DynamoDS/DynamoPrimer/issues

If you would like to contribute a new section, edits, or anything else to this project, check out the GitHub repo to get started: https://github.com/DynamoDS/DynamoPrimer.

The Dynamo Primer Project

The Dynamo Primer is an open-source project, initiated by Matt Jezyk and the Dynamo Development team at Autodesk.

Mode Lab was commissioned to write the First Edition of the Primer. We thank them for all of their efforts in establishing this valuable resource.

John Pierson of Parallax Team was commissioned to update the Primer to reflect the Dynamo 2.0. revisions.

Matterlab was commissioned to update the Primer to reflect the Dynamo 2.13. revisions.

Archilizer was commissioned to update the primer to reflect the Dynamo 2.17. revisions.

Wood Rodgers was commissioned to update the Primer with content for Dynamo for Civil 3D.

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to Ian Keough for initiating and guiding the Dynamo project.

Thank you to Matt Jezyk, Ian Keough, Zach Kron, Racel Amour and Colin McCrone for enthusiastic collaboration and the opportunity to participate on a wide array of Dynamo projects.

Software and Resources

Dynamo Please refer to the following sites for the most current stable release of Dynamo.

http://dynamobim.com/download/ or http://dynamobuilds.com

*Note: Starting with Revit 2020, Dynamo is bundled with Revit releases, resulting in manual installation not being required. More information is available at this blog post.

DynamoBIM The best source for additional information, learning content, and forums is the DynamoBIM website.

http://dynamobim.org

Dynamo GitHub Dynamo is an open-source development project on GitHub. To contribute, check out DynamoDS.

https://github.com/DynamoDS/Dynamo

Contact Let us know about any issues with this document.

Dynamo@autodesk.com

License

Copyright 2023 Autodesk

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.