Generics in OpenSCAD

OpenSCAD doesn’t support generics or object-oriented programming concepts like those demonstrated in the Go example. However, we can illustrate some similar concepts using OpenSCAD’s module system and list operations. Here’s an adaptation of the example:

// OpenSCAD doesn't have built-in generics or OOP, but we can demonstrate
// some similar concepts using modules and list operations.

// This function finds the index of a value in a list
function find_index(list, value) = 
    let(index = search([value], list)[0])
    index == [] ? -1 : index;

// Demonstration of a simple linked list using lists
function create_list() = [];

function push(list, value) = 
    concat(list, [value]);

function all_elements(list) = list;

// Main script
function main() = 
    let(
        // Create and use a list of strings
        s = ["foo", "bar", "zoo"],
        zoo_index = find_index(s, "zoo"),
        
        // Create and use a list of numbers
        num_list = push(push(push(create_list(), 10), 13), 23)
    )
    [
        str("index of zoo: ", zoo_index),
        str("list: ", num_list)
    ];

// Execute the main function and display results
results = main();
echo(results[0]);
echo(results[1]);

// Visual representation (optional)
cube([10, 10, 1]);

In this OpenSCAD adaptation:

1. We define a find_index function that mimics the behavior of the SlicesIndex function in the Go example. It uses OpenSCAD’s search function to find the index of a value in a list.

2. We create simple functions to mimic a linked list: create_list(), push(list, value), and all_elements(list). These use OpenSCAD’s built-in list operations.

3. The main() function demonstrates the usage of these concepts, creating both a list of strings and a list of numbers.

4. We use echo to display the results, as OpenSCAD doesn’t have a direct equivalent to Go’s fmt.Println.

5. A simple cube is added for visualization, as OpenSCAD is primarily used for 3D modeling.

To run this script:

1. Save it as a .scad file (e.g., generics_example.scad).
2. Open it in the OpenSCAD application.
3. Click “Render” or press F6 to execute the script.
4. Check the console output for the results of the echo statements.

Note that OpenSCAD’s programming model is quite different from Go’s, so many concepts don’t translate directly. This example aims to capture the spirit of the original while staying within OpenSCAD’s capabilities.