AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a computer-aided design (CAD) program used for 2-D and 3-D design and drafting. AutoCAD is developed and marketed by Autodesk Inc. and was one of the first CAD programs that could be executed on personal computers.

AutoCAD was initially derived from a program called Interact, which was written in a proprietary language. The first release of the software used only primitive entities such as polygons, circles, lines, arcs and text to construct complex objects.

Later, it came to support custom objects through a C++ application programming interface. The modern version of the software includes a full set of tools for solid modeling and 3-D. AutoCAD also supports numerous application program interfaces for automation and customization.

DWG (drawing) is the native file format for AutoCAD and a basic standard for CAD data interoperability. The software has also provided support for Design Web Format (DWF), a format developed by Autodesk for publishing CAD data.