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MetaPost
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<p>MetaPost refers to both a <a href="/facts/Programming_language/cWTYbgWa">programming language</a> and the <a href="/facts/Interpreter_(computer_software)/JB85fbyb">interpreter</a> of the MetaPost programming language. Both are derived from <a href="/facts/Donald_Knuth/GozNzDM6">Donald Knuth</a>'s <a href="/facts/Metafont/j7vCXw8s">Metafont</a> language and interpreter. MetaPost produces vector graphic diagrams from a geometric/algebraic description. The language shares Metafont's declarative syntax for manipulating lines, curves, points and geometric transformations. However, </p> <ul><li>Metafont is set up to produce fonts, in the form of image files (in .gf format) with associated font metric files (in .tfm format), whereas MetaPost produces <a href="/facts/Encapsulated_PostScript/MxugDBHI">EPS</a>, <a href="/facts/Scalable_Vector_Graphics/ARq5C3YV">SVG</a>, or <a href="/facts/Portable_Network_Graphics/mwgK6xw5">PNG</a> files</li> <li>The output of Metafont consists of the fonts at a fixed resolution in a raster-based format, whereas MetaPost's output is vector-based graphics (lines, <a href="/facts/B%25C3%25A9zier_curve/zJx3Uj60">Bézier curves</a>)</li> <li>Metafont output is monochrome, whereas MetaPost uses <a href="/facts/RGB/3Be0zwCj">RGB</a> or <a href="/facts/CMYK/CUsJE64n">CMYK</a> colors.</li> <li>The MetaPost language can include text labels on the diagrams, either strings from a specified font, or anything else that can be typeset with <a href="/facts/TeX/HDrl3Yvd">TeX</a>.</li> <li>Starting with version 1.8, Metapost allows floating-point arithmetic with 64 bits (default: 32 bit fixed-point arithmetic)</li></ul> <p>Many of the limitations of MetaPost derive from features of Metafont. For instance, MetaPost does not support all features of <a href="/facts/PostScript/h2XwbcmC">PostScript</a>. Most notably, paths can have only one segment (so that regions are <a href="/facts/Simply_connected/xFlta63J">simply connected</a>), and regions can be filled only with uniform colours. PostScript level 1 supports tiled patterns and PostScript 3 supports <a href="/facts/Gouraud_shading/04Nz96F5">Gouraud shading</a>. </p>