🚀 go-pugleaf

tdunbar@vttcf.cc.vt.edu (Thomas Dunbar) writes:

>are there any intros to MetaFont? i'd like something wrt MetaFont
>like "A Gentle Introduction to TeX" : The TeXbook.

IMHO and experience, The METAFONTbook by Knuth himself can actually
serve as a `gentle introduction' to METAFONT---at least much more so
than the TeXbook serves as in introduction to TeX...

tim@maths.tcd.ie (Timothy Murphy) writes:

>The trouble is, there are two entirely non-overlapping
>classes of Metafonter.

>First, there are the people who actually write Metafont code.
>These are all incredibly intelligent,
>and live mainly in caves in New Zealand.

>Then there are the rest of us,
>who just take what these people provide,
>to create fonts 'on the fly'.

In my experience there is an intermediate level that we might call
`plain METAFONT users' of which I am a member myself.  We happily
*use* the `mf' command to do simple things like curves and `stick
letters' (as you find them in the METAFONT logo), yet the Computer
Modern sources are still gibberish to us.  Also we know how to
generate fonts for different printers (modes) in different resolutions
(magsteps).  I have succesfully completed the fonts of the XY-pic
diagram drawing package at this level---and I intend to stay on it!

Regards,
--
-- 
  Kristoffer H{\o}gsbro ROSE                          E-mail: <kris@diku.dk>
  DIKU (N124, TOPPS group), University of Copenhagen  Voice:   +45 35321420
  Universitetsparken 1, DK-2100 Copenhagen {\O}       Fax:     +45 35321401