Is it possible to draw circuits through code?

Question

Is there a better way not by writing netlist files. something like:

Define Battery1 As a Battery
Define Resistor1 As a Resistor

Connect Battery1 First Terminal to Resistor1 Second Terminal
Connect Resistor1 First Terminal to Battery1 Second Terminal

EDIT:

I find the answers pretty helpful. It will be great if there is a way to simulate the circuit produced by the code.

Answer 1

If you are familiar with \$\LaTeX\$, you can use circuitikz to draw nice circuits by writing code.

Example.
More Examples

Answer 2

Check out SKiDL (https://github.com/xesscorp/skidl), this is along the lines you're thinking.

Edit (as req'd): SKiDL allows procedural description of all circuits (rather than just digital), instead of graphically entering your schematic. The netlist output can then be imported into layout software. It will also perform ERC checks, and is extensible. This means, for e.g., that you could write a filter once and then reuse it in different projects rather than drawing each time. Written in Python, with all the support that comes along with that.

Answer 3

Many programs can draw a schematic. None that I know of can draw a good schematic: One that emphasizes the most important information, and arranges the circuit in a clear and easy to understand way.

If you're just looking for a hardware description language (no graphical schematic output), VHDL and Verilog are widely used to define (digital) circuits to be implemented in ICs, and can also be used for board-level design.

Answer 4

Your example looks a lot like modelica, an object oriented language for simulation based on creating blocks and connecting ports between the blocks.

An example using the electrical components library (from maplesoft.com),

encapsulated model ChuaCircuit "Chua's circuit, ns, V, A"
  import Modelica.Electrical.Analog.Basic;
  import Modelica.Electrical.Analog.Examples.Utilities;
  import Modelica.Icons;
  extends Icons.Example;

  Basic.Inductor L(L=18);
  Basic.Resistor Ro(R=12.5e-3);
  Basic.Conductor G(G=0.565);
  Basic.Capacitor C1(C=10, v(start=4));
  Basic.Capacitor C2(C=100);
  Utilities.NonlinearResistor Nr(
    Ga(min=-1) = -0.757576,
    Gb(min=-1) = -0.409091,
    Ve=1);
  Basic.Ground Gnd;
equation 
  connect(L.p, G.p);
  connect(G.n, Nr.p);
  connect(Nr.n, Gnd.p);
  connect(C1.p, G.n);
  connect(L.n, Ro.p);
  connect(G.p, C2.p);
  connect(C1.n, Gnd.p);
  connect(C2.n, Gnd.p);
  connect(Ro.n, Gnd.p);
end ChuaCircuit;

Although you can generate a schematic from the model, normally this is done in a GUI that annotates the components with position and orientation information.

Answer 5

Cirkuit is an editor to convert a simple text description to a circuit diagram. It provides a set of M4 macros for electric symbols.

It can be used together with circuitikz which was suggested by nidhin. circuitikz uses the more modern pgf/TikZ graphic system. The stackexchange community has very active users of cirkuitikz, but there are more solutions in TeX.

Picture from https://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~aplevich/Circuit_macros/html/examples.html.

Answer 6

PSTricks is another library for TeX users. It can even do complicated mathematical calculation such as differential equations.

\documentclass[pstricks,border=12pt,12pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{pst-eucl,pst-circ}
\psset
{
    dipolestyle=zigzag,
    labelangle=0,
    labeloffset=-.9,
    intensitylabeloffset=-.4,
    tensionstyle=pm,
    tensionoffset=.9,
    tensionlabeloffset=.9,
    %tensioncolor=red,
    %tensionlabelcolor=blue,
}
\begin{document}
\begin{pspicture}[showgrid=none](12,-12)
	\pstGeonode[PosAngle={135,90,45,0,-45,-90,-135,180,45}]
		(2,-2){A}
		(6,-2){B}
		(10,-2){C}
		(10,-6){D}
		(10,-10){E}
		(6,-10){F}
		(2,-10){G}
		(2,-6){H}
		(6,-6){I}
	%
	\resistor[intensitylabel=$i_1$,tensionlabel=$V_{HA}$](H)(A){$R_1$}
	\resistor[tensionlabel=$V_{AB}$](A)(B){$R_2$}
	\vdc[tensionlabel=$V_{BC}$](B)(C){$E_1$}
	\resistor[tensionlabel=$V_{CB}$](C)(D){$R_3$}
	%
	\resistor[intensitylabel=$i_2$,tensionlabel=$V_{HI}$](H)(I){$R_4$}
	\vdc[tensionlabel=$V_{ID}$](I)(D){$E_2$}
	%
	\resistor[intensitylabel=$i_3$,tensionlabel=$V_{HG}$](H)(G){$R_5$}
	\newSwitch[ison=true,tensionlabel=$V_{GF}$](G)(F){$S_2$}
	\wire(F)(E)
	\resistor[tensionlabel=$V_{DE}$,dipoleconvention=generator](E)(D){$R_6$}
	%
	\vdc[tensionlabel=$V_{FI}$,dipoleconvention=generator](I)(F){$E_3$}
	\newSwitch[intensitylabel=$i_4$,tensionlabel=$V_{BI}$,ison=false](B)(I){$S_1$}	
\end{pspicture}
\end{document}

Answer 7

Yes.You can use HDLs to describe your circuit through code.You can use verilator,Xilinx or any other softwares or you can use the https://www.edaplayground.com/ (which works online without having to install anything on your PC).

Answer 8

See Schemdraw, which allows you to draw circuits using Python.

with schemdraw.Drawing():
    elm.Resistor().right().label('1Ω')
    elm.Capacitor().down().label('10μF')
    elm.Line().left()
    elm.SourceSin().up().label('10V')