TeX: Difference between revisions

The original source code for the current TeX software is written in [[WEB]], a mixture of documentation written in TeX and a [[Pascal programming language|Pascal]] subset in order to ensure readability and portability. For example, TeX does all of its dynamic allocation itself from fixed-size arrays and uses only [[fixed-point arithmetic]] for its internal calculations. As a result, TeX has been ported to almost all [[operating system]]s, usually by using the [[web2c]] program to convert the source code into [[C (programming language)|C]] instead of directly compiling the Pascal code. Knuth has kept a very detailed log of all the bugs he has corrected and changes he has made in the program since 1982; {{As of|2021|lc=on}}, the list contains 440 entries, not including the version modification that should be done after his death as the final change in TeX.<ref>Knuth, Donald E. [https://ctan.org/tex-archive/systems/knuth/dist/errata/tex82.bug List of updates to the TeX82 listing published in September 1982], available on [[CTAN]].</ref><ref>Knuth, Donald E. [ftp://tug.ctan.org/pub/tex-archive/systems/knuth/dist/errata/errorlog.tex Appendix to the ''Errors of TeX'' paper], available on CTAN, last modified in January 2003.</ref> Knuth offers [[Knuth reward check|monetary awards]] to people who find and report a [[Computer bug|bug]] in TeX. The award per bug started at US$2.56 (one "hexadecimal dollar"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/faq.html |title=Knuth: Frequently Asked Questions |first=Donald E |last=Knuth |access-date=2019-11-28 |website=Stanford Computer Science |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306101505/http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/faq.html |archive-date=6 March 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>) and doubled every year until it was frozen at its current value of $327.68. Knuth has lost relatively little money as there have been very few bugs claimed. In addition, recipients have been known to frame their chequecheck as proof that they found a bug in TeX rather than cashing it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2006/mayjun/features/knuth.html |title=Love at First Byte |author=Kara Platoni |website=[[Stanford Magazine]] |date=May–June 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060604115901/http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2006/mayjun/features/knuth.html |archive-date=2006-06-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tug.org/whatis.html |title=History of TeX |website=TeX Users Group |access-date=2019-11-28}}</ref>