A Pure SQL Raytracer

In plain words

A Pure SQL Raytracer is a development tool that implements ray tracing—a technique for rendering realistic 3D images—entirely using SQL queries. Launched in 2021, it demonstrates how complex computational graphics can be achieved within database systems rather than traditional programming languages. The project is hosted on GitHub. It's designed for developers interested in exploring unconventional uses of SQL, understanding raytracing algorithms, or pushing the boundaries of what database systems can compute.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

• 
  Using SQL's Turing completeness to build Tetris2024 · github.com · ▲338

  Using SQL's Turing Completeness to Build Tetris. Contribute to nuno-faria/tetris-sql development by creating an account on GitHub.

• 
  Visualize SQL Queries2022 · animatesql.com · ▲259

  My co-worker and I were debugging a SQL issue; having not seen SQL in two years, I embarrassed myself by confusing union vs. join. After this episode, I tried refreshing my SQL memory, but there are few websites that animate SQL for you. Most of them just have a series of images to help you visualize. There are a few tools that are quite good and robust (especially for large/complex use cases) but require installation and are too complex for my simple purpose. So, just created a small tool to help visualise SQL. Most of the animations are just my understanding of how SQL works. Would…

• 
  Visual SQL2020 · chartio.com · ▲512

  Through months of design, prototypes, and user tests we made a visual version of SQL - which has proven to enable 80% of business users to write complex quer…

• AR
  A raytracer to shade topographic maps in R2018 · tylermw.com · ▲198
• 
  dbdiagram.io2018 · dbdiagram.io · ▲181

  Free database diagrams designer for analysts & developers 🛠

• 
  I wrote a C++ ray tracer from scratch without AIJun 2026 · github.com · ▲155

  C++ Path Tracer from scratch with zero third-party libraries. - themartiano/luz

• 
  /dev/null▲481

  a social network for devs

  Dev tools · 2d ago · dev-null.sh

• 
  Whiteboard (YC W26) – an open-source IDE for thoughtful software design▲423

  open-source IDE for thoughtful software design. Contribute to devdotfast/whiteboard development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 27d ago · github.com

• 
  Reladraw – A diagram language where you decide where to place things▲411

  Contribute to reladraw/reladraw development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 25d ago · github.com

• 
  OpenBot▲362

  Grok Bot alternative: free, local, open-source, multiplayer

  Dev tools · 22d ago · openbot.run

• 
  Talanoa▲341

  Hi HN, I’m a fullstack developer, and honestly, I’ve lost count of how many side projects I’ve worked on over the years. But one idea kept coming back to me: a different kind of email client. It first came to me in 2014: “What if we could handle emails more like conversations?” Every year, I’d revisit this concept in my “Build Notes.” Ten years later, no one had built exactly what I had in mind — so I finally decided to do it myself. That’s how Talanoa was born. I wanted something focused on people, not timelines. I was tired of marking messages as unread just to remember to reply later, or…

  Dev tools · 20d ago · talanoa.email

• 
  CoreSpeed▲332

  One MCP for everything your agents need: apps, memory, tools

  Dev tools · 27d ago · corespeed.io

• II
  Imba – I have spent 7 years creating a programming language for the web▲1,216

  Hey all My name is Sindre, and I am the CTO of Scrimba (YC S20). For the last 7 years, I have written all my web apps in a full-stack programming language called Imba. It compiles to JavaScript and its main goal is to make web developers more productive. I just launched a major overhaul of Imba, so I wanted to share it here on HN, in case anyone are interested in learning more about it. It is very opinionated, so some of you might not like it, but I would love to hear anyones feedback regardless. Constructive criticism appreciated! The backstory: Imba initially started in 2012 as an effort…

  Life & fun · 2021

• WB
  We built an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Photos▲1,180

  Hello HN, Over the last year we've been building ente[1], a privacy-friendly, easy-to-use alternative to Google Photos. We've so far built Android[2][3], iOS[4], web[5] apps that encrypt your files and back them up in the background. You can access these across your devices, and share them with other ente users, end-to-end encrypted. You can also use our electron app[6] to maintain a local copy of your backed up files. We've built a fault-tolerant data replication layer that replicates your data to two different storage providers in the EU. We will be providing additional replicas as an…

  Life & fun · 2021

• 
  SigmaOS▲1,026

  The browser that makes YOU fast

  Work · 2021 · sigmaos.com

• 
  Codex by OpenAI▲954

  OpenAI's smartest and most intuitive to use model yet

  AI · 2021 · openai.com

• 
  Bootstrappers▲788

  Publication dedicated to bootstrapping founders

  Growth · 2021 · bootstrappers.com

• 
  Poet.so▲767

  Capture and share Twitter posts as beautiful images

  Growth · 2021 · poet.so