Drawing isometric diagrams in plain SVG: projection, shading and painter's order
Isometric drawings can explain hardware and systems more clearly than flat diagrams by showing depth and connections, and they need no 3D engine. A short JavaScript script with plain SVG polygons is enough to produce one. The article covers the projection formula that maps 3D coordinates to screen positions, and a four-tone shading scheme derived from one base colour. It also explains painter's order, showing why sorting by near corner fails for layered scenes and how a two-key sort or a separation test handles them. A complete dependency-free Node script generates the example machine drawing, which opens in any browser.
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