Why AutoCAD

AutoCAD ushered in the transition from
really expensive mainframe and minicomputer CAD systems costing tens of
thousands of dollars to merely somewhat expensive microcomputer CAD programs
costing a few thousand dollars.
AutoCAD’s 3D abilities have grown by leaps and bounds over the last several
releases, and 3D modeling is becoming a common way of checking designs
before they’re drafted. Nevertheless, AutoCAD is, first and foremost, a program
for creating two-dimensional technical drawings: drawings in which
measurements and precision are important because these kinds of drawings often get used to build something. The drawings you create with AutoCAD
must adhere to standards established long ago for hand-drafted drawings.
The up-front investment to use AutoCAD is certainly more expensive than the
investment needed to use pencil and paper, and the learning curve is much
steeper, too. So why bother? The key reasons for using AutoCAD rather than
pencil and paper are
✓ Precision: Creating lines, circles, and other shapes of the exact dimensions
is easier with AutoCAD than with pencils.
✓ Modifiability: Drawings are much easier to modify on the computer
screen than on paper. CAD modifications are a lot cleaner, too.
✓ Efficiency: Creating many kinds of drawings is faster with a CAD program
— especially drawings that involve repetition, such as floor plans
in a multistory building. But that efficiency takes skill and practice. If
you’re an accomplished pencil-and-paper drafter, don’t expect CAD to
be faster at first!
Figure 1-1 shows several kinds of drawings in AutoCAD 2011

Why choose AutoCAD? AutoCAD is just the starting point of a whole industry
of software products designed to work with AutoCAD. Autodesk has helped
this process along immensely by designing a series of programming interfaces
to AutoCAD (but not, alas, to AutoCAD LT — see the “Seeing the LT” section
later in the posts) that other companies — and Autodesk itself — have used
to extend the application. Some of the add-on products have become such
winners that Autodesk acquired them and incorporated them into its own
products. When you compare all the resources — including the add-ons, extensions,
training courses, books, and so on — AutoCAD doesn’t have much PC
CAD competition.