How many times have you heard the saying "You can't do that in Revit"... I, for one, have long since stopped counting! 😉
One aspect of Revit that is still relatively unknown to many, but is currently becoming increasingly popular, is Dynamo - Dynamo is an opensource project that now receives daily updates and enables visual scripting directly in Revit (or Vasari).
Visual scripting is a visual programming method and enables complex parametric models to be created after a relatively short training period. Here, functions from the library ("nodes") are linked together in such a way that the desired result is achieved - no programming knowledge is required, only logical thinking.
If you want to delve deeper, you can of course program your own functions - Dynamo is based on the Python programming language and has extensive documentation.
Most people will have heard of Grasshopper, the visual scripting add-on for Rhino 3D - Dynamo takes a similar approach and enables direct access to the API in addition to the close connection to Revit. In addition to parametric shape generation, you can also automatically call certain functions in Revit, for example to access native Revit families or start certain processes, which would otherwise only be possible via a macro or plugin (and would therefore require considerably more programming knowledge).
There is an official Dynamo version (stable build, currently 0.6.3), which is tested and recommended for standard users or ongoing projects, as well as daily builds, which contain the latest functions and are released every day, although one or two crashes cannot be ruled out.
The documentation and the program itself are currently only available in English and can be accessed via the following links:
Official website with learning materials, download area and blog: http://dynamobim.org/
GitHub documentation: https://github.com/DynamoDS/Dynamo/wiki/Learning-Dynamo
Learning videos (also in English):
Autodesk tutorials by Andrzej Samsonowicz https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC468uWfsaD8lEcQVlHU7qHA
Lecture "Dynamo - Visual Programming for Revit / Vasari https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm26L0P2MPE
Youtube Channel from Zach Kron: https://www.youtube.com/user/zachkron
Autodesk University Las Vegas Lessons (free registration required): http://au.autodesk.com/au-online/classes-on-demand/search?full-text=dynamo
you can also learn Dynamo from wwww.archi-lab.net 🙂
oh yes, excellent hint, been there quite often lately - will add you to the blogroll as well 🙂
keep up the good work!