greid@ondine.COM (Glenn Reid) (09/22/88)
> My argument, which applies to interpretive languages in general, is > that it's easier to learn a language in an interactive programming > environment than in a batch environment. Direct access and immediate > feedback gives a programmer immersed in an interpretive environment > intimate experience with the language, and incentive to experiment. > PostScript is very different than the languages most people are used > to. The syntax of PostScript is extremely simple, but if you're ever > going to be able to harness its power, you've got to understand the > semantics. And playing around with an interactive interpreter is a > quick and fun way to find out how it works. > -Don I would say that there are several levels of becoming proficient with the PostScripot language, and that (at least at the beginning), it can be very helpful to have some interactive response so you can test things out. However, once you get past a pretty simplistic level, you get very tired of retyping a line of code because you got it wrong: PS> /Times-Roman fondfont 12 scalefont setfont %%[Error: undefined; OffendingCommand: fondfont]%% PS> /Times-Roman findfont 12 scalefont setfont PS> (Hello world!) show %%[Error: nocurrentpoint; OffendingCommand: show]%% PS> 0 0 moveto (:LSJDFLKJSF) show This is about where you put the whole thing into a file, and do this instead: PS> (myprog.ps) run Which gets you back into batch mode, sort of.... The final point that is forgotten is that you can use a printer in interactive mode, which, although it is not as visual (without wasting a bit of paper), at least lets you get a "feel" for the language. I do this all the time to examine some part of my program to see what sequence of operators is necessary to pluck something from an array or whether "putinverval" really works like I think it does. A PostScript printer, after all, is just a computer with a serial port, to which you hook up a terminal (or emulator), just like the old days :-) You still have to type "executive", of course. Cheers, Glenn Reid Adobe Systems
toms@ncifcrf.gov (Tom Schneider) (09/22/88)
In article <4227@adobe.COM> greid@adobe.UUCP (Glenn Reid) writes: >However, once you get past a pretty simplistic level, you get >very tired of retyping a line of code because you got it wrong: >... >This is about where you put the whole thing into a file, and do this >instead: >... >Which gets you back into batch mode, sort of.... Nope! I had two windows open. In one I had my editor, and I modified the code there. In the other window I ran psh. Then I could play by stuffing things from one window to the other (there might be an easier way to do this with a smarter editor like gemacs). So I could try out all kinds of things VERY quickly, which is the whole point of this discussion; to learn something it is best to be able to play around with it. So waiting around for the printer to print is no good... (I've assumed, for the purposes of this discussion, that a person has a choice between talking to the NeWS server via psh or to a printer. With no choice, either would be great.) Try this two window trick! Once you are set up, its great for testing all those neat \bells&whistles. And you end up with permanant code in a file if you want... Tom Schneider toms@ncifcrf.gov
SCHWER@KL.SRI.COM (Leonard Schwer) (09/22/88)
Just to add to the fray, there is a Mac application called LaserTalk that allows interactive PostScript development and saves a lot of printer paper in the process.
bobs@sco.COM (Bob Stayton) (09/26/88)
In article <12432600364010@KL.SRI.COM> SCHWER@KL.SRI.COM (Leonard Schwer) writes: > > Just to add to the fray, there is a Mac application called > LaserTalk that allows interactive PostScript development and > saves a lot of printer paper in the process. At Seybold, Emerald City Software showed off LaserTalk on a Mac *and* on a PC (running in Windows, available 4Q88). Requires a Postscript printer. The program typically puts up three windows: one to show your interactive commands, one that shows the stack, and one that previews the output. You have to click on the window to update the preview. An on-line copy of the Red book is a nice touch. Looked like a nice program. I'll probably get the PC version when its available. The Mac version is $250 and the PC version is $400. Emerald City Software: (415) 324-8080. bobs in docland currently residing at: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. uunet!sco!bobs I'm not responsible for the things my company says. And vice versa.
yoshio@ucrmath.ucr.edu (yoshio nakamura) (01/03/91)
I'd like to learn PostScript. Can someone recommend a few texts to get started with? I would like to write stuff for a LaserWriter and LaserWriter II, and do Display PostScript stuff on a '030 NeXT cube. I understand that the "red", "blue", and "green" books by Adobe are essential. Has anybody read Don Lancaster's PostScript materials and can anyone recommend his texts? Are xps or ghostscript good for learning PostScript? thanks! -yoshio
JSW5@NS.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (Jeffrey Spencer Warrington) (02/03/91)
I am new to postscript but got off to a great start by reading
Learning Postscipt A Visual Approach by Ross Smith
It just starts with the basics and shows you a piece of code and what
it does. Lot's of examples. The best way to learn...
Disc: I have no association with anyone let alone the author, so please
don't read into this.
Jeff Warrington
jsw5@ns.cc.lehigh.edu Student Konsultant
"Reach out and grep someone..." - fortunehenry@angel.Eng.Sun.COM (Henry McGilton) (02/05/91)
In article <03029102:59:01JSW5@lehigh.bitnet>, JSW5@NS.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (Jeffrey Spencer Warrington) writes:
* . . . new to postscript but got off to a great start by reading
* Learning Postscipt A Visual Approach by Ross Smith
* It just starts with the basics and shows you a piece of code
* and what it does. Lot's of examples. The best way to learn...
I recommend Ross Smith's book a lot for PostScript beginners. I
especially like the book because it's almost half pictures -- a big
plus in a book about a language designed for graphical imaging. I am
always bemused by books on graphics that consist primarily of text.
I did however find one very very minor error in the book. At the
back there is a program for listing the fonts in the font directory
of your printer. The program assumes that Type 3 fonts must be
downloaded fonts, which is a reasonable assumption. But the converse
situation is not true -- Type 1, Type 4, Type 5, and so on, fonts can
also be downloaded. Once a non-Type 3 font is installed, there is as
far as I know, no way to determine if it was downloaded -- apres moi
le deluge. The program essentially assumes that `Type 3 fonts are
downloaded', which is quite different from the notion that
`downloaded fonts must be Type 3'. As I said, it's only a minor
problem in an otherwise fine beginner's guide.
........ Henry