Get Affordable VMs - excellent virtual server hosting


browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

postscriptmore about postscript

postscript

 

  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Postscript  \Post"script\,  n.  [L.  postscriptus  (assumed)  p.  p. 
  of  postscribere  to  write  after  post  after  +  scribere  to 
  write:  cf  F.  postscriptum  See  {Post-},  and  {Scribe}.] 
  A  paragraph  added  to  a  letter  after  it  is  concluded  and 
  signed  by  the  writer;  an  addition  made  to  a  book  or 
  composition  after  the  main  body  of  the  work  has  been 
  finished,  containing  something  omitted,  or  something  new 
  occurring  to  the  writer.  [Abbrev.  P.  S.] 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  postscript 
  n  1:  a  note  appended  to  a  letter  after  the  signature  [syn:  {PS}] 
  2:  textual  matter  that  is  added  onto  a  publication;  usually  at 
  the  end  [syn:  {addendum},  {supplement}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  PostScript  n.  A  Page  Description  Language  ({PDL}),  based  on 
  work  originally  done  by  John  Gaffney  at  Evans  and  Sutherland  in  1976, 
  evolving  through  `JaM'  (`John  and  Martin',  Martin  Newell)  at  {XEROX 
  PARC},  and  finally  implemented  in  its  current  form  by  John  Warnock  et 
  al  after  he  and  Chuck  Geschke  founded  Adobe  Systems  Incorporated  in  1982. 
  PostScript  gets  its  leverage  by  using  a  full  programming  language, 
  rather  than  a  series  of  low-level  escape  sequences,  to  describe  an 
  image  to  be  printed  on  a  laser  printer  or  other  output  device  (in  this  it 
  parallels  {EMACS},  which  exploited  a  similar  insight  about  editing  tasks). 
  It  is  also  noteworthy  for  implementing  on-the  fly  rasterization  from 
  Bezier  curve  descriptions,  of  high-quality  fonts  at  low  (e.g.  300  dpi) 
  resolution  (it  was  formerly  believed  that  hand-tuned  bitmap  fonts  were 
  required  for  this  task).  Hackers  consider  PostScript  to  be  among  the 
  most  elegant  hacks  of  all  time,  and  the  combination  of  technical  merits 
  and  widespread  availability  has  made  PostScript  the  language  of  choice 
  for  graphical  output. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  PostScript 
 
  text,  graphics>  A  {Page  Description  Language}  based 
  on  work  originally  done  by  John  Gaffney  at  Evans  and 
  Sutherland  in  1976,  evolving  through  JaM"  ("John  and  Martin", 
  Martin  Newell)  at  {XEROX  PARC},  and  finally  implemented  in  its 
  current  form  by  John  Warnock  et  al  after  he  and  Chuck  Geschke 
  founded  {Adobe  Systems,  Inc.}  in  1982. 
 
  PostScript  is  an  interpreted,  stack-based  language  (like 
  {FORTH}).  It  was  used  as  a  page  description  language  by  the 
  {Apple  LaserWriter},  and  now  many  {laser  printers}  and 
  on-screen  graphics  systems.  Its  primary  application  is  to 
  describe  the  appearance  of  text,  graphical  shapes  and  sampled 
  images  on  printed  or  displayed  pages. 
 
  A  program  in  PostScript  can  communicate  a  document  description 
  from  a  composition  system  to  a  printing  system  in  a 
  device-independent  way 
 
  PostScript  is  an  unusually  powerful  printer  language  because 
  it  is  a  full  programming  language,  rather  than  a  series  of 
  low-level  escape  sequences.  (In  this  it  parallels  {Emacs}, 
  which  exploited  a  similar  insight  about  editing  tasks).  It  is 
  also  noteworthy  for  implementing  on-the  fly  {rasterisation}, 
  from  {Bezier  curve}  descriptions,  of  high-quality  {font}s  at 
  low  (e.g.  300  dpi)  resolution  (it  was  formerly  believed  that 
  hand-tuned  {bitmap  font}s  were  required  for  this  task). 
 
  PostScript's  combination  of  technical  merits  and  widespread 
  availability  has  made  it  the  language  of  choice  for  graphical 
  output. 
 
  See  also  {PDF}. 
 
  {An  introduction 
  (http://www.cs.indiana.edu/docproject/programming/postscript/postscript.html)}. 
 
  ["PostScript  Language  Reference  Manual"  ("The  Red  Book"), 
  Adobe  Systems,  A-W  1985]. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1997-02-23)




more about postscript