Minimal Ray Tracer in J: A Surprisingly Enjoyable Experience
2025-05-30
This post details the author's experience building a minimal ray tracer in J, a terse array-based programming language. The author explores key J concepts like tacit verbs, array programming, and verb composition, demonstrating their application in implementing core ray tracing elements such as vector math, lighting calculations, and pixel rendering. The resulting ray tracer is concise and surprisingly performant, leading the author to praise J's interactive development experience and speed compared to other languages like Common Lisp.
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Development
J programming language