Intent Driven Design

The central tenant of OpenCAD. The geometry of the parts and assemblies is driven by intent.

So for instance, the driving features of a bracket are the mating surfaces and the hole patterns. Edge distance and part thickness would be secondary considerations, as would be any webs or other structural elements.

There should be relationships between the bracket and the parts that it connects. The software should either maintain the relationships automagically or it should notify the user that the part's intended design is not fulfilled.