How I’d Learn Revit API in 2024 (If I Could Start Over)

[@christopheragbodzahmakafui12]

Meeting you as a pycharm user was a game changer for me. Thanks once again

[@ErikFrits]

pyCharm is great, but I noticed that it gives lots of headaches to people while configuring it. I'm starting to experiment with VS Code from time to time ;)

[@ФилиппХомяков-б2ъ]

I started learning the basics of programming this year. I have already written 5-6 relatively small scripts of up to 500 lines, one large script with 1500 lines and another with approximately 700 lines. But this was in the Dynamo environment. And yes, I am still learning; I believe there are many gaps in my knowledge, and of course, there are things I still plan to study. Just recently, thanks to your incredible work and the opportunities provided by PyRevit, I finally transitioned to developing in a proper IDE and creating my own panel based on your toolkit. So by the end of this year, I will have my own extension made up of multiple scripts.

[@ErikFrits]

These are awesome news and these are not so small scritps! Definetely mid to large in size, great job! Keep creating awesome tools for Revit, and don't forget to share with the world at least how they work (GIF/Video). LinkedIn community loves seeing results. Happy Coding!

[@yeldaq]

you are amazing! so plain, directly to the subject without any show off, you teach like a father rather than a teacher hahaha and i love that

[@ErikFrits]

Thanks ! I need to add dad jokes 😂

[@sonij5155]

Great man! Great attitude! Big Fan❤

[@yousufleads]

Would you use Macros instead of external tools? Code is easy to create

[@ErikFrits]

I find pyRevit the best for prototyping and even creating office toolbars. And most importantly - quick

[@Tomekaek]

Also need films that focus on the journey of learning! Great video, not to much slices ;)

[@ErikFrits]

Thanks Tomekaek 😉

[@parimalvala8742]

Hi Eric, Great Stuff. Is there any student discount you provide for your course ? Thanks. :)

[@ErikFrits]

Hi, yes I provide students discounts too. Write me to [e-mail] , and we can talk about

[@Khurram864]

CS50P is really good( but i thing one from MIT is also good, have not attended yet)...You have only mentioned Python...and don't you think C# or C++ are sometime more advantageous over python for complex and large Addons etc?I am also learning to CODE , not an expert but is mentioned by many experts.

[@ErikFrits]

I tried MIT when I started with python many years ago. It was good but it's a much longer course and it also covers more ground about computer science in general. C# and C++ definitely have a bunch of advantages over python: Execution speed, protected source code, better handling of .NET features.... But python is by far easier and quicker to begin with and it's also possible to push it really far to create advanced tools. My goal is to help AEC expert to begin coding, and python is much better choice since it takes less time to begin with. And people can always switch to other languages much easier. And Revit API logic will pretty much stay the same. C# and C++ requires you to dive much deeper before you can start make your first Add-Ins so therefore I focus primarily on python for beginners. The good thing about programming - is that all the languages are similar. The computation logic stays the same, we just need to express it with different words and additional symbols (syntax)

[@giancarloarciniegas136]

why learn python and not C#? If I don't want my code to be open source, I have to program in C#? thanks for the video.

[@ErikFrits]

Python is much easier to pick up and quicker to start using in comparison to C#. Most of us working in AEC don't have much time, so python makes a great choice to start quick and dirty and improve along the way. The great thing about programming is that next language is always much quicker to learn, because the main programming concepts are nearly all the same. You just learn different syntax and then you get used to it. But yeah, if your end goal is to make compiled plugins, C# might be the way to go.

[@leoleosen3261]

Very good point, Python is useful in dynamo script, but for Revit API C# or other. NET languages would be much better.

[@ErikFrits]

​@@leoleosen3261 It Depends. Python is great for quick development and it has far more open-source examples at our hands directly in pyRevit and its additional extensions. And creating a new extension is just as easy as copying folder structure and renaming a few things. Also pyRevit has bunch of pre-written functions we can use for creating UI Forms and executing certain Revit API functionality. But again, it's also a personal preference. And luckily switching to C# from python will be quite easy, as computational logic stays nearly the same as Python

[@AntonRaj-t1c]

Is Revit API Developer role is good for fresher to choose career in this?

[@ErikFrits]

It will certainly help you stand out from the competition. In the beginning when freshers come out of university, their portfolio and additional skills speak louder than the name of the institution. So showing potential employer additional skills will certainly help. Programming gives you a good leverage on your time, and bigger the office the more impact you will be able to have. You might spend a few days making a button that saves 10 minutes, but if that button will be used by many people on daily basis, the compounding return to the office will be huge, and therefore this skill is greatly appreciated when put into use. Also programming opens new opportunities in the field in general😉

[@andreheynes4646]

Hi hope i can afford your course when it comes out. I follow you here on youtube though. I tried you that fancy creating a family by first using that fancy element filter script you wrote but cant get it to work. Could i contact you somehow to help me get it to work?

[@ErikFrits]

Hi, Do you get any error messages, or what didn't work? I don't do 1on1 consulting at the moment.

[@andreheynes4646]

@@ErikFrits hi thanks for the reply man. My problem is around placing structural families especially beams. The error i get is Exception : System.MissingMemberException: 'type' object has no attribute 'ValueProvider'

[@ErikFrits]

@@andreheynes4646 Check out the example 'Create Beam' that you will find on this page. learnrevitapi.com/python-snippets P.S. Use to find it, I haven't had time to organize this page better yet...

[@andreheynes4646]

@@ErikFrits thanks so much Erik this is going to be a great resource.

[@andreheynes4646]

Hi Eric. I think I found where the error was originating from the filter function for filtering by type name you created in your video on filtering. I dont know how to fix it but I'll give it a go. As for the code snippets you provided...it works fine for creating a beam.

[@christopheragbodzahmakafui12]

Good one

[@precastdetailing]

I am at the stage of 0. i know 0 revit, and zero about the API as well.

[@ErikFrits]

You probably should start with Revit and understand the software before you dive into automating it. Otherwise you might be automating things that are natively possible inside of Revit, or not understand how Revit operates. Afterall, Revit is full of workarounds because there are so many missing features in it.

[@neharawat6037]

I am at stagr 1

[@ErikFrits]

We all start somewhere! Just start with the basics and learn the rest by doing it! Happy Coding!