At a Hackathon, a Claude-Written Ray Tracer Winner Couldn't Explain Basic Graphics Terms
DanielcHooper · x · 2026-10-20
The author hand-wrote a raycaster at a handheld game console hackathon. A attendee wearing an "I ❤️ slop" t-shirt claimed they also wrote a raycaster — but showed a ray tracer fully written by Claude, and couldn't answer basic graphics questions, only talk about their prompting harness.
The author laments that AI is ruining the craft and community for people who have spent their lives getting good at programming — a flashpoint in the ongoing vibe-coding-vs-craftsmanship debate.
Related event: Hackathon contestant submits Claude-written raycaster he can't explain(2 posts)→
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