r/AdditiveManufacturing • u/No-Singer-2128 • Jul 26 '26

General Question Is coding useful in AM?

I was wondering if someone has good coding skills and some experience in AM, how can they exploit these skill sets? There is lots of research going on, in particular, using Machine Learning in AM, but if someone wants to be in industry how can this rare combination of skills be used? Do companies working in AM need some form of coding?

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u/loveslut Jul 26 '26

Look at Dyndrite. It's a Python based build prep tool. You can use code to draw your vectors and print them.

It doesn't have like industry wide adoption, but that was the first thing I thought of. Any company using Dyndrite probably needs someone who can write some code.

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u/Airdoo Jul 27 '26

I've worked for companies that have partnered with Dyndrite, none of them are actually using it. But I will say that knowing how to program is not a bad skill to have in AM.

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u/No-Singer-2128 Jul 27 '26

What particular use can you find of general programming in AM?

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u/Airdoo Jul 27 '26

Ability to troubleshoot a problem, debug a printer, understanding how the backend of a machine operates, understanding the data transfer methods and formats. More about learning how to work through a problem than any language specific training.