vector-search-engine
Beta
Build a vector search engine
Build a vector index with exact search, filters, and a simplified HNSW graph.
Advanced5 stages~18 hDatabases
vectoresbusqueda aproximadahnsw+1
TypeScript · Python · Go
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Project raytracerGraphicsIntermediateBeta
A ray tracer
Vectors, intersections and materials. Write a PPM and watch a scene appear pixel by pixel.
Build it in your language
The tester treats your program as a black box: any language works. These are just the most convenient ones for this project.
What this project is about
This is the most visual challenge in the catalog: every stage ends in an image you can open and look at. The payoff is immediate and addictive.
Starting from vectors you write yourself, you'll cast rays through a virtual camera, compute intersections with spheres and planes, and add materials, shadows and reflections until you get a scene that looks like it came out of a serious renderer. Because it did.
Roadmap
9 stages across 4 phases. Every stage comes with its guide and its tests: you move on when they pass.
- Phase 12 stages
An image on screen
Your own vectors, the PPM format, and a gradient as a first output.
- Phase 23 stages
Rays and geometry
Camera, rays, sphere intersection and normals.
- Phase 32 stages
Materials
Diffuse, metals, glass with refraction, and shadows.
- Phase 42 stages
Quality and the final image
Antialiasing, depth of field, and optimising the inner loop.
Before you start
A ray tracing renderer that writes PPM images: your own vector algebra, a configurable camera, sphere and plane intersection, diffuse, metal and glass materials with refraction, shadows, antialiasing by sampling, and depth of field.