The whole point of tools like OpenSCAD is that you can create complex 3D models without needing to use a GUI. I think this approach is most likely to appeal to people whose background is in programming where we often find that text based interfaces are a more efficient way of getting things done than working with a complicated GUI.
A lot of engineers don't want to work with code though, and if you know what you are doing with your GUI as a poweruser, you can be fairly efficient that way too.
The way I see it, if one of those tools really wants to succeed in the industry, it needs to have a GUI for that group of end-users. I think one way this could be nicely achievable with a JSX(-like) markup system, where components can be easily GUI editable as long as you don't have any custom code in them (just like low-code React editors do it).
I haven't used OpenSCAD yet but to me the workflow appears to be verry different from what e.g. FreeCAD is doing.
There is some overlap but it's not that big. OpenSCAD is useful if you can describe your model as an algorithm. FreeCAD is useful when you want to define your model visually.
I don't think one can say either of them is strictly better than the other because they are not quite the same.
However it's easy to see how avoiding the need for a constraint solver significantly reduces the complexity of the software.
OpenSCAD appealed to me as a programmer. I needed to prototype some parts and openscad was simpler than any of the GUI tools. Not sure how but I have talent making SolidWorks blow up with non-invertible matrices. :/
But OpenSCAD’s approach hit a wall quickly for me. Trying to figure out the distances for new objects was a PITA. It would be nice to have a simple GUI tool for placing an item by inserting the proper code. Ideally you’d be able to link changeable parameters in the GUI to code variables and be able to do things like show/hide in the GUI, or even a repl.
I don't have much experience with it myself but based on what you said it sounds like there's a real need to have the geometry definition language embedded within a full programming language, like the parent comment said.
In the meantime another possibility might be to write a code generator for the scad language.
CAD is a funny area - very different. I'm still learning. It seems OpenSCAD excels when you can describe your object quickly. FreeCAD is for that as well (it has Python embedded) and when you can't describe it parametrically.
That said, a recent post on Reddit in r/openscad mentioned designing an entire car to do the Pike Peak challenge in Colorado.
We have a lot of tools and methodologies available. Picking the right one needs care and attention to detail. It's the same as the other "real world": I know my way around metal and wood working equipment and I can do simple welding. My carpentry is good first and second fix grade but not cabinetry, and I can weld stuff together, sometimes without melting both objects.
I can design bridges and roads as well and they may work fine ...
