# aras-p/ToyPathTracer

Toy path tracer for my own learning purposes (CPU/GPU, C++/C#, Win/Mac/Wasm, DX11/Metal, also Unity)

Repository: https://github.com/aras-p/ToyPathTracer
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/toypathtracer
Homepage: https://aras-p.info/blog/2018/03/28/Daily-Pathtracer-Part-0-Intro/
Language: C++
License: Unlicense
License Family: permissive
Topics: path-tracing, cpp, csharp, unity, gpu, burst, metal
Last push: 2025-04-12T05:53:35+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 39/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 16, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3085, "days_push": 508, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1116, forks 113 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:38.497115+00:00)

## What it is
A small educational path tracer written in C++ and C# with CPU and GPU implementations (DX11, Metal, Unity Burst, WebAssembly). It was built as a personal learning exercise accompanied by a detailed blog series on rendering and performance optimization.

## Use cases
- learn how path tracing works
- compare CPU vs GPU ray tracing performance
- study SIMD optimization in C++
- see how to write a path tracer in Unity with Burst
- learn GPU compute shader rendering with Metal or DX11
- study a WebAssembly graphics demo

## When to choose
- you want a minimal, readable codebase to learn ray/path tracing
- you want to compare implementations across languages and platforms
- you want to follow along with a blog series explaining each optimization step

## When to avoid
- you need a production renderer with BVH acceleration, materials, or mesh support
- you need a feature-complete offline renderer
- you expect maintained, extensible rendering software

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: maintenance
- function: graphics, simulation, benchmarking
- domain: graphics, tutorials, performance
- platform: windows, wasm, cpp
- tags: path-tracing, ray-tracing, rendering, simd, unity, metal, directx11, educational, game-development, macos, ios, gpu

## Member repositories
- aras-p/ToyPathTracer (main) score 39

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:38.497115+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:41:57.037846+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/aras-p/ToyPathTracer (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:38.497115+00:00, sha 0eae1ae9fcc0)
  - homepage: https://aras-p.info/blog/2018/03/28/Daily-Pathtracer-Part-0-Intro/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:45:40.227697+00:00, sha f354c1733951)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.