Software rendering in 500 lines of bare C++

Opening excerpt

In this series of articles, I aim to demonstrate how OpenGL, Vulkan, Metal, and DirectX work by writing a simplified clone from scratch. Surprisingly, many people struggle with the initial hurdle of learning a 3D graphics API. To help with this, I have prepared a short series of lectures, after which my students are able to produce quite capable renderers.

The task is as follows: using no third-party libraries (especially graphics-related ones), we will generate an image like this:

Warning: This is a training material that loosely follows the structure of modern 3D graphics libraries. It is a software renderer . I do not intend to show how to write GPU applications — I want to show how they work. I firmly believe that understanding this is essential for writing efficient applications using 3D libraries.

The final code consists of about 500 lines. My students typically require 10 to 20 hours of programming to start producing such renderers. The input is a 3D model composed of a triangulated mesh and textures. The output is a rendereding.

(Excerpted from the original; full article via the source link below.)

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