book/15-glossary.md

15. Glossary

Organizes key terms needed for SRP/URP/RenderGraph/Shader learning with one-sentence definitions and cross-references.

15. Glossary

This document organizes terms that appear repeatedly in the text into “one-sentence definition + where to see more.”

Render pipeline/architecture

  • SRP (Scriptable Render Pipeline): Unity rendering architecture that allows you to define rendering loop/pass configurations in C#.
  • URP (Universal Render Pipeline): SRP-based universal pipeline. Widely used from mobile to PC.
    • Related: 03
  • HDRP: High-quality/high-end target pipeline (this book focuses on URP).
  • RenderGraph: A system that manages lifespan/execution order by declaring the read/write dependencies of paths and resources as a graph.
    • Related: 04
  • Compatibility Mode: Legacy path that does not use RenderGraph (mainly based on Execute()).
    • Related: 03

C# Extension Points

  • Renderer: Object that configures camera rendering (ScriptableRenderer).
    • Related: 03
  • Renderer Feature: Extension point (ScriptableRendererFeature) that attaches features to the renderer.
  • Render Pass (ScriptableRenderPass): A “render step” inserted into the URP pipeline.
  • RenderPassEvent: An event that specifies the approximate execution timing of the pass (before/after opaque, etc.).
    • Related: 03

Resources/Textures

  • RenderTexture: Texture resource that can be used as a render target.
  • RTHandle: Render target handle system that takes dynamic resolution/scale into account.
    • Related: 05
  • TextureHandle: A handle that references a texture resource within RenderGraph.
  • Shader Property ID: “Global slot key (integer)” obtained with Shader.PropertyToID.
    • Related: 05

Shader/Pass/Keyword

  • ShaderLab Pass: Pass blocks defined in shaders (ForwardLit/ShadowCaster, etc.). URP selects LightMode.
    • Related: 09
  • LightMode: Tag that determines which ShaderLab Pass the URP will use.
    • Related: 09
  • Keyword / Variant: A system for building feature-specific shader variants with #pragma multi_compile etc.
    • Related: 09
  • CBUFFER / UnityPerMaterial: Material constant buffer. The key to SRP Batcher compatibility.
    • Related: 09
  • SRP Batcher: SRP optimization to reduce material constant upload costs.
    • Related: 09

Lighting (Forward/Forward+)

  • Main Light: Usually one directional light is treated as main (depending on URP settings).
    • Related: 07
  • Additional Lights: Lights other than the main (point/spot, etc.).
    • Related: 07
  • Forward Rendering: The traditional path for accumulating light in pixels.
  • Forward+: Path that loops “only the influencing lights” on a cluster/tile basis (useful when there are many lights).
    • Related: 07
  • _CLUSTER_LIGHT_LOOP: Representative keyword for Forward+ loop path.
    • Related: 07

Data Structure

  • NativeArray: Native array container without GC (compatible with job system/burst).

    • Related: 02## RenderGraph / Compute

  • Compute Pass: Pass type that runs compute shaders in RenderGraph. It is usually recorded as AddComputePass.

    • Related: 17

  • ComputeGraphContext: Execution context of the RenderGraph Compute pass. Record the compute command as ctx.cmd.

    • Related: 17

  • UAV(RandomWrite): The path that compute uses to “write” the texture/buffer. enableRandomWrite is required when creating a texture.

    • Related: 17

  • GraphicsBuffer: GPU buffer (Structured/Raw/Indirect, etc.). Often used for compute output/input.

    • Related: 17