The Ray Tracer Challenge
The Ray Tracer Challenge by Jamis Buckby Jamis Buck
Shares rank 38 of 115 programming books by recommenders
Guides readers through building a full ray tracer and 3D engine using tests, which people recommend for learning test-driven development.
Guides readers through building a full ray tracer and 3D engine using tests, which people recommend for learning test-driven development.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Teaches test-driven development through a project
“It helps you build a full ray tracer / 3D engine only guided with tests, really powerful to learn test driven development.”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “So, you want to make a game engine (2023)” Builds a full ray tracer
“It helps you build a full ray tracer / 3D engine only guided with tests, really powerful to learn test driven development.”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “So, you want to make a game engine (2023)” Produces attractive rendered images
“you can generate some pretty cool images”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Maze Algorithms” Recommended to anyone interested in this
“for anybody else interested in this undertaking, I recommend this book”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: I wrote a C++ ray tracer from scratch without AI”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Hunt and Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| The Ray Tracer Challengeby Jamis BuckThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It helps you build a full ray tracer / 3D engine only guided with tests, really powerful to learn test driven development.”
“for anybody else interested in this undertaking, I recommend this book”
“you can generate some pretty cool images”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.