What is Shader?
The short answer
A shader is a small program that runs on the GPU for every pixel or vertex, calculating colour and shape; shaders create effects like liquid metal, glow, ripples and gradients.
Shader, explained
Fragment shaders colour pixels; vertex shaders move points. Because they run in parallel on the GPU, they can animate a full screen of effects at high frame rates.
A single shader can replace video backgrounds and large images at a fraction of the download size.
Questions people ask about Shader
What is Shader?
A shader is a small program that runs on the GPU for every pixel or vertex, calculating colour and shape; shaders create effects like liquid metal, glow, ripples and gradients.
Related terms
WebGL is the browser technology that draws hardware-accelerated 2D and 3D graphics inside a web page using the device's GPU, with no plugin.
RaymarchingRaymarching is a shader technique that draws 3D scenes described by maths instead of meshes, stepping each pixel's ray forward until it hits a surface.
Gradient meshA gradient mesh is a soft, multi-point blend of colours that flows like an aurora, often animated slowly behind a hero section.
Shockwave effectA shockwave effect is a ring of distortion that bursts outward from a point, bending the image behind it like a blast or a stone dropped in water.
Part of the Web Encyclopedia by Apex Flow Digital. Definitions are general knowledge, kept current, with no invented statistics.