Computers & Typesetting, Volume B: TeX: The Program

The Complete Source Code and Program Listing for TeX

Now, 35 years after the first edition, the leading worldwide experts on these systems have spent several months inspecting every page thoroughly. We now believe that every i has been properly dotted, every t has been properly crossed, and every bug has been properly exterminated.

Donald E. Knuth, creator of the exciting TeX computer typesetting system, has made available in this volume the fully documented program listing for TeX.

Readers who are already familiar with TeX and with its user’s guide, The TeXbook, will find much of interest in the source code. Other readers interested in software development and in Knuth’s programming style will find this a fascinating and instructive case study. Never before has a computer program of this size been spelled out so clearly and completely. Knuth presents all the algorithms and explains every detail of the TeX program, utilizing the WEB system of structured documentation that he developed as part of his TeX research project.

TeX: The Program is the second in a five-volume series on Computers and Typesetting, all authored by Knuth. This series presents the results of nearly a decade of innovative research on the problems of preparing publications of high quality.