# Ray Tracing in One Weekend by Peter Shirley

9 Hacker News commenters recommended Ray Tracing in One Weekend by Peter Shirley and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A free, short series that walks readers through building a basic ray tracer step by step. Recommended as a first stop for learning graphics programming from scratch.

## Why people recommend it

- Free, step-by-step ray tracer guide (2 comments): "The greatest resource I've found on the internet is the Ray Tracing in One Weekend series." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541368)) "I'd suggest starting with the Ray Tracing In One Weekend minibook series first" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46452986))
- Good starting point for graphics (2 comments): "I'd suggest starting with the Ray Tracing In One Weekend minibook series first" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46452986)) "a lot of people recommend "Ray Tracing in One Weekend"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49342550))
- Classic resource recommended widely (2 comments): "HN classics that I wish I had completed long ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46711135)) "Ray Tracing in One Weekend series" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48751922))

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Ray+Tracing+in+One+Weekend+by+Peter+Shirley&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Ray Tracing in One Weekend by Peter Shirley", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ray-tracing-in-one-weekend/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).