Making Software

A reference manual for people who design and build software.

Visit makingsoftware.com → On Hacker News Jul 2025 – Jul 2026

From electron guns to tiny electric crystals - digital displays have always been the unsung hero of computing.

How to draw high fidelity graphics when all you have is an x and y coordinate.

In which we answer every question you've ever had about digital color, and some you haven't.

Exploiting the quirks of human vision to make images smaller, without looking awful.

Invariably, it involves trying to trap electrons in increasingly complicated ways.

Everything that goes into making a digital font, from vector outlines to hinting.